Marriage and cohabiting rates among people with childhood sensorineural hearing loss in a large Norwegian cohort: results from the SHINT and the HUNT study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between childhood sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and cohabiting/marriage rates in a large Norwegian cohort. Design: This study is based on data from the School Hearing Investigation in Nord-Trøndelag (SHINT), data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), and registry data on marital status from Statistics Norway. Marital status is measured yearly from 1975–2015 (marriage) and 1987–2014 (cohabitation). The association between SNHL and marital status was tested using multinomial logistic regression models estimating odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusting for age, sex, and education. Study sample: The total sample comprised 50,022 participants born between 1940 and 1980. SNHL in SHINT of 41 dB or more was defined as moderate-profound (N = 216), 26–40 dB as mild (N = 294) and 16–25 dB as slight (N = 246). Results: There was a significant association between any SNHL and cohabitation (OR =.56, 95% CI = 0.43–0.72) and marriage (OR =.50, 95% CI = 0.40–0.62), between mild SNHL and cohabitation (OR =.58, 95% CI = 0.40–0.86) and marriage (OR =.40, 95% CI = 0.29–0.56), and between moderate-profound SNHL and cohabitation (OR =.43, 95% CI = 0.26–0.71) and marriage (OR =.45, 95% CI = 0.31–0.66). Conclusions: Childhood SNHL reduces the likelihood of cohabitation and marriage.