Introduction
The main aim of this research is to test the difference in the age related hearing loss with respect to race and sex. For the analysis, the variables that have been selected are Race, Sex, Age, Income, Occupational Exposure, Education, Hearing Difficulty and Loss of Hearing of an individual. People between 65 and 85 years have been considered for the study. Missing values have been eliminated from the data and after that a random sample of 400 individuals have been selected.
Data Analysis
Descriptive Analysis
From the analysis, it has been observed that out if the 400 selected people, there are 103 people with hearing difficulty and 297 people without hearing difficulty. Thus, it can be said that most people in the age group of 65 and 85 years are without hearing difficulty. Most of the older people have not experienced loss of hearing. Most of the selected individuals are females. There are more people belonging to white race than that belonging to the black race.
It can also be seen that most of the selected individuals have completed high school or even less educational qualification. Very little number of people have completed master’s degree or higher levels of education. The people of older ages are mostly unemployed or do not work in the labor force.
The average age of the selected people are 72.86 years. The age of the selected people are not much scattered and are close to the average age. On the other hand, the average income of the people is $10325.70 and the income are extremely scattered and not at all close to the average income.
Inferential Statistics
The prevalence rate of hearing loss in men as well as in women is 3.25 percent. The prevalence rate of hearing loss in white people is 5.25 percent and that in black people is 1.25 percent. From the analysis, it has also been observed that loss of hearing is not affected by the race of the individuals and gender of the individuals have no such impact on the hearing ability or the loss of hearing.
From the analysis, no difference in the hearing losses have been observed with respect to age. Thus, it can be said that loss of hearing does not depend on age. From the results of the regression analysis conducted, it can also be established that other than race, no other variables considered such as Sex, Age, Income, Occupational Exposure, Education and Hearing Difficulty does not affect the loss of hearing in individuals, though the impact of race is also negligible.
Conclusion
From all the analysis conducted above, it can be concluded that there are no race and sex differences in the age related hearing loss in individuals. Thus, the hearing loss in people can be said is completely dependent on the health of a person and not on any other demographic factors.
Appendices
|
Hearing_Difficulty
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
Yes
|
103
|
25.8
|
25.8
|
25.8
|
|
No
|
297
|
74.3
|
74.3
|
100.0
|
|
Total
|
400
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Education
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
High School or Less
|
318
|
79.5
|
79.5
|
79.5
|
|
Bachelor’s Degree
|
33
|
8.3
|
8.3
|
87.8
|
|
Master’s Degree or higher
|
8
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
89.8
|
|
Others
|
41
|
10.3
|
10.3
|
100.0
|
|
Total
|
400
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Gender
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
Male
|
166
|
41.5
|
41.5
|
41.5
|
|
Female
|
234
|
58.5
|
58.5
|
100.0
|
|
Total
|
400
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Race
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
White
|
366
|
91.5
|
91.5
|
91.5
|
|
Black
|
34
|
8.5
|
8.5
|
100.0
|
|
Total
|
400
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Occupational_Exposure
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
Civilian Employed
|
26
|
6.5
|
6.5
|
6.5
|
|
Unemployed or Not in Labor Force
|
374
|
93.5
|
93.5
|
100.0
|
|
Total
|
400
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Loss_of_Hearing
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
No
|
374
|
93.5
|
93.5
|
93.5
|
|
Yes
|
26
|
6.5
|
6.5
|
100.0
|
|
Total
|
400
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Statistics
|
|
|
Age
|
Income
|
|
N
|
Valid
|
400
|
400
|
|
Missing
|
0
|
0
|
|
Mean
|
72.86
|
10325.70
|
|
Median
|
72.00
|
6500.00
|
|
Mode
|
68
|
6000
|
|
Std. Deviation
|
5.571
|
13501.108
|
|
Range
|
20
|
131600
|
|
Percentiles
|
25
|
68.00
|
3725.00
|
|
50
|
72.00
|
6500.00
|
|
75
|
77.00
|
11475.00
|
|
Group Statistics
|
|
|
Hearing_Difficulty
|
N
|
Mean
|
Std. Deviation
|
Std. Error Mean
|
|
Age
|
Yes
|
1187
|
74.80
|
5.900
|
.171
|
|
No
|
3438
|
72.45
|
5.469
|
.093
|
|
Independent Samples Test
|
|
|
Levene’s Test for Equality of Variances
|
t-test for Equality of Means
|
|
F
|
Sig.
|
t
|
df
|
Sig. (2-tailed)
|
Mean Difference
|
Std. Error Difference
|
95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
|
|
Lower
|
Upper
|
|
Age
|
Equal variances assumed
|
22.027
|
.000
|
12.501
|
4623
|
.000
|
2.349
|
.188
|
1.981
|
2.718
|
|
Equal variances not assumed
|
|
|
12.049
|
1935.364
|
.000
|
2.349
|
.195
|
1.967
|
2.732
|
|
Descriptive Statistics
|
|
Dependent Variable: Hearing_Difficulty
|
|
Gender
|
Race
|
Mean
|
Std. Deviation
|
N
|
|
Male
|
White
|
1.75
|
.435
|
155
|
|
Black
|
1.73
|
.467
|
11
|
|
Total
|
1.75
|
.436
|
166
|
|
Female
|
White
|
1.73
|
.448
|
211
|
|
Black
|
1.87
|
.344
|
23
|
|
Total
|
1.74
|
.440
|
234
|
|
Total
|
White
|
1.73
|
.442
|
366
|
|
Black
|
1.82
|
.387
|
34
|
|
Total
|
1.74
|
.438
|
400
|
|
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
|
|
Dependent Variable: Hearing_Difficulty
|
|
Source
|
Type III Sum of Squares
|
df
|
Mean Square
|
F
|
Sig.
|
|
Corrected Model
|
.443a
|
3
|
.148
|
.769
|
.512
|
|
Intercept
|
343.387
|
1
|
343.387
|
1788.418
|
.000
|
|
Gender
|
.097
|
1
|
.097
|
.507
|
.477
|
|
Race
|
.104
|
1
|
.104
|
.544
|
.461
|
|
Gender * Race
|
.188
|
1
|
.188
|
.981
|
.323
|
|
Error
|
76.034
|
396
|
.192
|
|
|
|
Total
|
1291.000
|
400
|
|
|
|
|
Corrected Total
|
76.477
|
399
|
|
|
|
|
a. R Squared = .006 (Adjusted R Squared = -.002)
|
|
Model Summary
|
|
Model
|
R
|
R Square
|
Adjusted R Square
|
Std. Error of the Estimate
|
|
1
|
.147a
|
.022
|
.004
|
.246
|
|
a. Predictors: (Constant), Race, Age, Education, Hearing_Difficulty, Gender, Occupational_Exposure, Income
|
|
ANOVAa
|
|
Model
|
Sum of Squares
|
df
|
Mean Square
|
F
|
Sig.
|
|
1
|
Regression
|
.529
|
7
|
.076
|
1.245
|
.277b
|
|
Residual
|
23.781
|
392
|
.061
|
|
|
|
Total
|
24.310
|
399
|
|
|
|
|
a. Dependent Variable: Loss_of_Hearing
|
|
b. Predictors: (Constant), Race, Age, Education, Hearing_Difficulty, Gender, Occupational_Exposure, Income
|
|
Coefficientsa
|
|
Model
|
Unstandardized Coefficients
|
Standardized Coefficients
|
t
|
Sig.
|
|
B
|
Std. Error
|
Beta
|
|
1
|
(Constant)
|
.177
|
.210
|
|
.840
|
.401
|
|
Age
|
-.002
|
.002
|
-.042
|
-.833
|
.405
|
|
Hearing_Difficulty
|
-.020
|
.029
|
-.035
|
-.690
|
.491
|
|
Education
|
.019
|
.014
|
.074
|
1.343
|
.180
|
|
Gender
|
-.027
|
.026
|
-.053
|
-1.040
|
.299
|
|
Occupational_Exposure
|
-.010
|
.054
|
-.010
|
-.181
|
.856
|
|
Income
|
-1.167E-006
|
.000
|
-.064
|
-1.083
|
.280
|
|
Race
|
.097
|
.045
|
.110
|
2.171
|
.031
|
|
a. Dependent Variable: Loss_of_Hearing
|
