Table 2.
Associations between Mediterranean Diet Score and hearing loss† using multivariable logistic regression models among participants aged 50 years or older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2000–2006 and 2009–2012 (n 1639)
| Independent variable | Model 1‡ | Model 2§ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR | 95 % CI | OR | 95 % CI | |
| Mediterranean Diet Score | ||||
| ≤3 (reference) | 1·00 | – | 1·00 | – |
| >3 | 0·68 | 0·46, 1·01 | 0·78 | 0·49, 1·23 |
| Age (years) | 1·15*** | 1·12, 1·17 | 1·14*** | 1·11, 1·17 |
| Sex | ||||
| Men (reference) | 1·00 | – | 1·00 | – |
| Women | 0·34*** | 0·24, 0·59 | 0·38** | 0·20, 0·72 |
| Total energy intake (kcal) | 1·00 | 1·00, 1·00 | 1·00 | 1·00, 1·00 |
| Race | ||||
| Non-Hispanic White (reference) | – | – | 1·00 | – |
| Non-Hispanic Black | – | – | 0·41*** | 0·26, 0·64 |
| Hispanic | – | – | 0·68 | 0·38, 1·21 |
| Other | – | – | 1·23 | 0·42, 3·63 |
| Education | ||||
| High school or less (reference) | – | – | 1·00 | – |
| Some college | – | – | 0·74 | 0·46, 1·19 |
| College graduate | – | – | 0·39*** | 0·25, 0·61 |
| Family income to poverty ratio | – | – | 0·98 | 0·88, 1·10 |
| Physical activity level | ||||
| No moderate or vigorous (reference) | – | – | 1·00 | – |
| Moderate | – | – | 0·86 | 0·50, 1·47 |
| Vigorous | – | – | 0·78 | 0·42, 1·45 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | ||||
| <25 (reference) | – | – | 1·00 | – |
| 25–29·9 | – | – | 0·98 | 0·57, 1·69 |
| ≥30 | – | – | 0·96 | 0·61, 1·50 |
| Current smoking status | – | – | 1·09 | 0·52, 2·29 |
| Chronic health conditions (hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes) | – | – | 0·83 | 0·56, 1·23 |
| Noise exposure (recreational, firearm and occupational) | – | – | 1·29 | 0·81, 2·07 |
| Veteran status | – | – | 0·88 | 0·54, 1·43 |
**P < 0·01, ***P < 0·001.
†
Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average at speech frequencies (0·5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz) >25 dB.
‡
Adjusted for age, sex and total energy intake.
§
Further adjusted for race, education, family income to poverty ratio, physical activity level, BMI, current smoking status, chronic health conditions, noise exposure and veteran status.