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(HealthDay News) The likelihood of hearing loss is nearly double in older White adults versus older Black adults, according to a study published online Dec. 13 in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

ZhiDi Deng, from University of Toronto, and colleagues assessed racial differences in self-reported hearing loss among older U.S. adults (65 years and older). The analysis included data from 467,789 non-Hispanic White and 45,105 non-Hispanic Black participants in the 2016 and 2017 American Community Survey.

The researchers found that the prevalence of hearing loss was markedly higher among older White adults (15.4% in both surveys) versus Black participants (9% in 2017 and 9.4% in 2016). When adjusting for age and sex, the odds of hearing loss were 69% higher for White participants versus Black participants in 2017, which increased to 91% higher odds when adjusting for household income and education level. In a fully adjusted analysis, 2016 findings were very similar (odds ratio, 1.81).

“Interestingly, we found that among males, non-Hispanic Black Americans have a prevalence of hearing loss that is similar to non-Hispanic White Americans who are 10-years younger,” Deng said in a statement. “More research is needed to understand the extraordinary differences in hearing.”

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