Table 1 Baseline characteristics and the significance of differences between the treatment and control groups among hearing-impaired middle-aged and older adults

Age (years), mean (SD)

0.670

Sex, N (%)

0.746

 Male

271

70.39

107

71.33

164

69.79

 Female

114

29.61

43

28.67

71

30.21

Hukou types, N (%)

0.167

 Rural

360

93.51

137

91.33

223

94.89

 Urban

25

6.49

13

8.67

12

5.11

Education, N (%)

0.173

 Illiterate

179

46.49

65

43.33

114

48.51

 Primary school

130

33.77

59

39.34

71

30.21

 Middle school or above

76

19.74

26

17.33

50

21.28

Marital status, N (%)

0.010

 Alone

89

23.12

45

30.00

44

18.72

 Married/partnered

296

76.88

105

70.00

191

81.28

Work types, N (%)

0.518

 Non-agriculture

24

6.23

11

7.33

13

5.53

 Agriculture

190

49.35

69

46.00

121

51.49

 Unemployed

171

44.42

70

46.67

101

42.98

Life sources, N (%)

0.129

 Only on one’s own

54

14.03

16

10.67

38

16.17

 Have support from others

331

85.97

134

89.33

197

83.83

Health insurance, N (%)

0.125

 No

15

3.90

3

2.00

12

5.11

 Yes

370

96.10

147

98.00

223

94.89

Pure-tone average, N (%)

0.990

 Moderate (40 dB < PTA ≤ 60 dB)

114

29.61

45

30.00

69

29.36

 Severe (60 dB < PTA ≤ 80 dB)

144

37.40

56

37.33

88

37.45

 Profound (PTA > 80 dB)

127

32.99

49

32.67

78

33.19

Smoking status, N (%)

0.381

 Smoke now

123

31.95

43

28.67

80

34.04

 Ever smoke

64

16.62

29

19.33

35

14.90

 Never smoke

198

51.43

78

52.00

120

51.06

Drinking status, N (%)

0.819

 Drink now

112

29.09

43

28.67

69

29.36

 Ever drink

71

18.44

30

20.00

41

17.45

 Never drink

202

52.47

77

51.33

125

53.19

Social activities, N (%)

0.993

 No

100

25.97

39

26.00

61

25.96

 At least one

285

74.03

111

74.00

174

74.04

Social network, N (%)

0.577

 Restricted

101

26.23

37

24.67

64

27.23

 Active

284

73.77

113

75.33

171

72.77

 HHIE-S, mean (SD)

31.65

0.39

33.49

0.45

30.47

0.56

< 0.001

 HHIE-S-Emotional, mean (SD)

14.01

0.24

15.00

0.30

13.37

0.34

0.001

 HHIE-S-Situational, mean (SD)

17.64

0.20

18.49

0.22

17.10

0.29

< 0.001

 SF-12-Physical, mean (SD)

40.75

0.43

40.68

0.70

40.80

0.54

0.887

 SF-12-Mental, mean (SD)

40.01

0.49

40.99

0.80

39.39

0.62

0.112

 EQ-5D-5L, mean (SD)

0.76

0.01

0.75

0.02

0.77

0.01

0.611

 Chronic diseases, N (%)

0.114

  No

101

26.23

46

30.67

55

23.40

  Yes

284

73.77

104

69.33

180

76.60

 ADLs, N (%)

0.315

  Unimpaired

295

76.62

119

79.33

176

74.89

  Impaired

90

23.38

31

20.67

59

25.11

 IADLs, N (%)

0.076

  Unimpaired

123

31.95

40

26.67

83

35.32

  Impaired

262

68.05

110

73.33

152

64.68

 Depressive symptoms, N (%)

0.453

  No

245

63.64

92

61.33

153

65.11

  Yes

140

36.36

58

38.67

82

34.89

 Cognition scores measured by MMSE, mean (SD)

16.93

0.45

17.07

0.75

16.83

0.56

0.796