Filter life, in my limited experience, is mostly dependent on environment. Some can need changed yearly while others can go multiple years before it needs changed.
With the cabin filter in my G35 or my wife's last car, with the work required to remove them, it was getting changed when it came out, so I had to base it on "time". There were certainly a time or two where I got one or the other out and thought "this really doesn't need replaced". On the Civic, it is super easy to remove/check, so it is changed based on condition.