Table 5 Model two: bivariate and multivariate predictors of high frequency hearing loss† (continuous outcome) over 5 years in a cohort of aluminium workers

Bivariate			Multivariate
Characteristic	β Coefficients	p Value	Characteristic	β Coefficients	p Value
Age	0.03	<0.001	Age	0.03	<0.001
African-American	0.32	0.01
Male	0.14	0.08
Location
Location 1	0.04	0.45
Location 2	0.28	0.03
Location 3	0.32	0.1
Location 4	0.17	0.08
Location 5	Reference
Median noise level in dBA
<82	Reference
82–84	−0.05	0.54
85–87	−0.03	0.73
⩾88	−0.06	0.64
Risk factors			Risk factors
Ear infections	−0.01	0.91
Shooting or hunting	0.2	<0.001	Shooting or hunting	0.18	<0.001
Noisy hobbies	0.17	<0.001	Noisy hobbies	0.11	0.03
Previous noisy job	0.11	0.03
History of hearing loss in family	0.05	0.41
Carbon monoxide exposure	−0.05	0.55
Solvent exposure	0.03	<0.001	Solvent exposure	0.58	<0.001
Mean baseline hearing status (SD)			Mean baseline hearing status (SD)
Binaural average at 3, 4 and 6 kHz	0.01	<0.001	Binaural average at 3, 4 and 6 kHz	0.005	0.03
			Interactions
			Shooting or hunting*solvent exposure	−0.43	0.02

†High frequency hearing loss: annual rate of loss for the average of hearing thresholds at 3, 4 and 6 kHz (continuous outcome). Linear regression was used to calculate the β coefficients and p values.