Table 5.

Multivariate Relative Risk^a of Incident Hearing Loss According to Use of Analgesic Agents and Age Group, Nurses' Health Study II, 1995–2009

Analgesic and Frequency of Use	Age Group, years						P for Interaction
	<50			≥50
	No. of Cases	RR	95% CI	No. of Cases	RR	95% CI
Aspirin, days/week
<1	3,582	1.00		3,789	1.00
1	209	0.97	0.84, 1.13	161	0.97	0.83, 1.14	0.98
2–3	161	1.06	0.90, 1.24	258	1.08	0.95, 1.23	0.83
4–5	81	0.90	0.72, 1.12	194	1.03	0.89, 1.18	0.34
≥6	279	0.95	0.84, 1.08	1,070	1.02	0.95, 1.09	0.48
Ibuprofen, days/week
<1	2,302	1.00		3,293	1.00
1	824	1.02	0.94, 1.11	659	1.01	0.92, 1.10	0.87
2–3	752	1.11	1.01, 1.20	808	1.15	1.06, 1.24	0.50
4–5	252	1.25	1.10, 1.43	298	1.18	1.05, 1.33	0.51
≥6	259	1.48	1.29, 1.68	346	1.10	0.99, 1.23	0.0007
Acetaminophen, days/week
<1	3,145	1.00		4,199	1.00
1	648	1.00	0.91, 1.09	477	1.02	0.92, 1.12	0.76
2–3	380	1.13	1.01, 1.26	397	1.08	0.97, 1.19	0.48
4–5	115	1.35	1.12, 1.63	150	1.12	0.95, 1.32	0.13
≥6	76	1.03	0.82, 1.30	193	1.09	0.94, 1.26	0.74

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk.

^a Adjusted for age; race; body mass index; alcohol consumption; physical activity; intakes of alcohol, folate, vitamin B₁₂, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin A; smoking status; hypertension; diabetes; and use of the other analgesics.