title: Factors associated with the accuracy of subjective assessments of hearing impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Self-reported hearing impairment is often used to gauge objective hearing loss in both clinical settings and research studies. The aim of this study was to examine whether demographic factors affect the accuracy of subjective, self-reported hearing in older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 3557 participants aged 50 and older in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles 1999-2006 and 2009-2010. We examined the relationship between objective and subjective hearing impairment using percent correct classification and misclassification bias in analyses stratified by gender, age group, race/ethnicity, and education.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that younger participants tended to overestimate and older participants underestimate their hearing impairment. Older women, blacks, and Hispanics were less accurate in self-reporting than their respective younger age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The association between subjective and objective hearing differs across gender, age, race/ethnicity, and education, and this observation should be considered by clinicians and researchers employing self-reported hearing.
authors.affiliation: 1Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA; 2Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; and 3Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Geriatric Medicine, Mental Health, and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kamil
authors.forename: Dane J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Genther
authors.forename: Frank R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D044465:White People