Table 1.
Characteristics of U.S. veterans with sarcoidosis and control subjects
| Control (n* = 71,241) | Sarcoidosis (n = 23,747) | |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion of patients receiving non–VA-purchased care | 5,937 (8.3) | 1,979 (8.3) |
| Age, yr† | 55 (47–63) | 55 (47–63) |
| Sex | ||
| Male | 64,831 (91.0) | 20,535 (86.5) |
| Female | 6,396 (9.0) | 3,202 (13.5) |
| Race | ||
| White | 45,932 (64.5) | 9,678 (40.8) |
| Black | 12,142 (17.0) | 12,379 (52.1) |
| Asian and other | 1,785 (2.5) | 261 (1.1) |
| Unknown | 11,382 (16) | 1,429 (6.0) |
| Ethnicity | ||
| Hispanic | 3,710 (5.2) | 680 (2.8) |
| Non-Hispanic | 52,357 (81.9) | 22,288 (93.9) |
| Unknown | 9,174 (12.9) | 779 (3.3) |
| Residence by region | ||
| South | 32,098 (45.1) | 12,871 (54.2) |
| Northeast | 8,699 (12.2) | 3,271 (13.8) |
| Midwest | 14,735 (20.7) | 4,252 (18.0) |
| West | 14,786 (20.8) | 3,145 (13.2) |
| U.S. territories and non-U.S. | 550 (0.7) | 127 (0.5) |
| Unknown | 373 (0.5) | 81 (0.3) |
| Rural residence | ||
| Rural | 23,623 (33.2) | 6,493 (27.3) |
| Urban | 47,118 (66.1) | 17,133 (72.2) |
| Unknown | 500 (0.7) | 121 (0.5) |
| Branch of service | ||
| Air Force | 7,656 (10.8) | 3,129 (13.2) |
| Army | 24,775 (34.8) | 11,803 (49.7) |
| Marine | 5,124 (7.2) | 1,926 (8.1) |
| Navy | 9,903 (13.9) | 3,494 (14.7) |
| Other | 21,180 (29.7) | 2,213 (9.3) |
| Multiple | 2,155 (3.0) | 1,130 (4.8) |
| Unknown | 448 (0.6) | 52 (0.2) |
| Tobacco use | ||
| No | 25,315 (35.5) | 6,115 (25.8) |
| Yes | 45,926 (64.5) | 17,632 (74.2) |
Definition of abbreviation: VA = Veterans Affairs.
Data are presented as n (column %) unless otherwise noted. Control subjects were identified using incident density sampling from the total population available through VA Corporate Data Warehouse without a diagnostic code for sarcoidosis by the end of each calendar year. Then propensity score matching was applied to select three control cases for each sarcoidosis case.
*
Number of cases.
†
Median (25th–75th percentiles).