Health care professionals of all disciplines are called on to assess individuals’ functional status using screening and diagnostic questionnaires. Many of these screening tests are administered verbally, requiring individuals to process auditory information and respond appropriately. For individuals with hearing loss, comprehension of these verbally administered test items and instructions may be compromised, leading to potentially poorer performance and scores on the screening assessment. If a provider is unaware of the individual’s hearing loss, these errors may be mistakenly attributed to cognitive impairment, which can then result in unnecessary recommendations for more comprehensive assessments and treatments. This potential for error underscores the need for timely and appropriate diagnosis of hearing loss, as well as determination of hearing status before administering any diagnostic assessment to ensure valid results. However, hearing loss is not always diagnosed in a timely way, and the professional who administers cognitive screening tests may not be aware of or trained to recognize signs of hearing loss. To illustrate this problem, we provide a brief review of research on the effect of hearing loss on cognitive screening tools administered face-to-face, with verbal questions and answers.