Table 4:

Pooled Results for Age-Adjusted and Multivariable-Adjusted Hazard Ratios for Mild or Worse Hearing Loss, by Categories of Inflammatory Markers, Among Women in the Nurses’ Health Studies

	1 0<CRP<1	2 1≤CRP<3	3 3≤CRP<6		4 CRP≥6	P for trend
Cases (n)	674	552	331		292
Person-years	44700	28711	14801		13235
Age-adjusted HR, 95% CI	1.00	1.00 [0.89–1.12]	1.09 [0.91–1.30]		1.15 [0.97–1.38]	0.14
Multivariable-adjusted HR, 95% CI	1.00	0.98 [0.87–1.10]	1.02 [0.89–1.17]		1.06 [0.91–1.23]	0.23
	1 0<IL-6<1	2 1≤IL-6<2	3 2≤IL-6<3		4 IL-6 ≥3	P for trend
Cases (n)	604	444	127		131
Person-years	37637	26962	7333		7335
Age-adjusted HR, 95% CI	1.00	1.00 [0.88–1.13]	1.07 [0.88–1.29]		1.12 [0.93–1.36]	0.19
Multivariable-adjusted HR, 95% CI	1.00	0.97 [0.85–1.10]	1.02 [0.83–1.25]		1.09 [0.89–1.33]	0.45
	1 0<TNFR-2<2000	2 2000≤TNFR-2<3000		3 TNFR-2≥3000		P for trend
Cases (n)	183	508		290
Person-years	12280	31286		12016
Age-adjusted HR, 95% CI	1.00	0.95 [0.74–1.24]		1.04 [0.86–1.26]		0.39
Multivariable-adjusted HR, 95% CI	1.00	0.93 [0.75–1.15]		1.01 [0.83–1.23]		0.61

Outcome: mild or worse hearing loss (mild, moderate, or severe)

Abbreviations: NHS=Nurses’ Health Study; CI=confidence intervals; HR=hazard ratio

Units for CRP = mg/L; Units for IL-6 = pg/mL; Units for TNFR-2= pg/mL

Covariates: Adjusted for age, BMI, history of hypertension, and acetaminophen use (removed missing values for acetaminophen due to non-convergence of model)