Table 3:

Hearing loss and risk of incident subjective cognitive decline^* in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, after excluding two questions that potentially could be influenced by hearing status

Hearing Status	Person-years	Cases	Age-adjusted RR (95% CI)	Multivariable-adjusted RR† (95% CI)
No difficulty	28623	1208	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Mild hearing loss	14638	790	1.28 (1.17, 1.41)	1.26 (1.15, 1.38)
Moderate hearing loss	5438	326	1.34 (1.18, 1.52)	1.29 (1.13, 1.46)
Severe, no hearing aid	986	65	1.44 (1.12, 1.86)	1.37 (1.06, 1.77)
p-trend			<0.001	<0.001
Severe, use a hearing aid	3068	179	1.24 (1.05, 1.46)	1.18 (1.00, 1.39)

^*Incident subjective cognitive decline defined as Subjective Cognitive Function Score (SCF) ≥ 1. Score does not include questions on “difficulty in understanding or following spoken instructions” or “trouble following a group conversation or plot in a TV program.”

^†Adjusted for: Age, race, occupation, BMI, waist circumference, smoking (past/current), physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, depression, aspirin use, ibuprofen use, acetaminophen use, and AMED, adherence score.

Abbreviations:

MVRR: multivariable-adjusted relative risk

BMI: body mass index

AMED: Alternate Mediterranean diet