TABLE 1. Crude, age-standardized,* and age-specific prevalence of diagnosed arthritis^† among veterans^§ and nonveterans, stratified by sex and by selected demographic characteristics — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United States, 2017–2021.

Characteristic	Prevalence, % (95% CI)
	Men n = 947,180		Women n = 1,139,254
	Nonveterans	Veterans	Nonveterans	Veterans
Crude	17.7 (17.5–17.9)	34.7 (34.3–35.1)¶	28.8 (28.6–29.0)	31.9 (30.8–33.1)**
Age-standardized	18.3 (18.1–18.4)	25.2 (24.8–25.7)¶	25.3 (25.2–25.5)	30.5 (29.4–31.5)**
Age group, yrs
18–44	6.2 (6.0–6.3)	12.7 (12.0–13.4)¶	9.5 (9.3–9.7)	15.1 (13.8–16.5)**
45–64	26.2 (25.9–26.5)	34.9 (34.1–35.7)¶	35.8 (35.5–36.1)	43.0 (41.1–44.8)**
≥65	42.0 (41.4–42.6)	47.2 (46.7–47.8)¶	56.1 (55.7–56.5)	56.4 (53.7–59.0)
Race and ethnicity ††
Black or African American	18.5 (17.9–19.0)	25.6 (24.0–27.2)¶	26.9 (26.4–27.4)	29.3 (26.9–31.8)
White	20.3 (20.2–20.5)	25.5 (25.0–26.0)¶	27.1 (27.0–27.3)	32.7 (31.5–34.0)**
Hispanic or Latino	12.7 (12.2–13.3)	22.1 (20.4–23.9)¶	21.1 (20.6–21.6)	28.7 (25.1–32.6)**
Other	14.2 (13.5–14.9)	26.5 (24.6–28.4)¶	19.8 (19.1–20.5)	22.6 (19.0–26.8)
Highest educational attainment§§
Less than HS graduate	20.2 (19.7–20.7)	32.1 (28.0–36.5)¶	29.3 (28.8–29.9)	35.0 (28.0–42.8)
HS graduate or equivalent	19.7 (19.4–20.0)	23.7 (23.0–24.4)¶	26.7 (26.4–27.0)	29.1 (26.9–31.4)**
Technical school degree or some college	19.8 (19.5–20.2)	27.3 (26.5–28.1)¶	27.4 (27.1–27.7)	33.3 (31.5–35.1)**
College degree or more	14.6 (14.4–14.8)	23.2 (22.4–23.9)¶	20.3 (20.1–20.5)	28.2 (26.8–29.6)**
Annual household income¶¶
<$15,000	23.4 (22.7–24.1)	33.3 (30.7–35.9)¶	34.3 (33.7–34.9)	41.5 (35.5–47.8)**
$15,000 to <$25,000	21.3 (20.8–21.8)	28.6 (27.3–30.0)¶	30.5 (30.0–30.9)	35.7 (32.9–38.6)**
$25,000 to <$50,000	18.9 (18.5–19.3)	26.1 (25.2–27.0)¶	26.8 (26.5–27.2)	35.2 (33.0–37.4)**
≥$50,000	16.8 (16.6–17.1)	24.2 (23.5–24.8)¶	21.8 (21.6–22.0)	27.8 (26.4–29.3)**
BMI (kg/m2 )***
Underweight/Healthy weight (<25)	14.4 (14.1–14.7)	20.0 (19.2–20.9)¶	19.7 (19.4–19.9)	25.0 (23.3–26.7)**
Overweight (25 to <30)	16.7 (16.4–16.9)	23.1 (22.4–23.7)¶	24.4 (24.1–24.7)	30.5 (28.7–32.4)**
Obesity I (30 to <35)	21.9 (21.5–22.3)	30.0 (28.9–31.2)**	30.1 (29.7–30.5)	36.6 (33.9–39.3)**
Obesity II (≥35)	28.9 (28.3–29.5)	36.7 (34.9–38.4)**	38.2 (37.8–38.7)	44.2 (40.8–47.7)**
Health insurance type†††
Employer- or union-sponsored	16.6 (16.1–17.2)	21.2 (19.9–22.6)	22.1 (21.5–22.6)	23.5 (20.2–27.0)
Medicare and Medigap	26.9 (25.8–28.0)	38.1 (32.4–44.0)§§§	37.3 (36.2–38.5)	37.0 (30.7–43.8)¶¶¶
Medicaid or other state program	22.7 (21.5–23.9)	27.5 (22.4–33.2)§§§	31.2 (30.1–32.3)	39.9 (33.3–46.8)¶¶¶
Self-insured (purchased by self or family member)	16.7 (15.7–17.8)	19.7 (17.3–22.3)	22.1 (21.3–22.9)	26.9 (14.9–43.5)
TRICARE (formerly CHAMPUS), VA, or military	20.2 (15.1–26.5)	31.1 (29.6–32.6)§§§	27.8 (25.2–30.4)	34.7 (31.4–38.1)¶¶¶
Other health insurance	19.1 (17.4–21.0)	26.1 (21.4–31.6)	27.4 (25.6–29.3)	36.6 (26.8–47.7)¶¶¶
None	11.1 (9.6–12.7)	22.4 (16.4–29.9)	16.6 (15.0–18.5)	—****
Sexual orientation††††,§§§§
Bisexual	19.7 (17.9–21.8)	27.1 (23.3–31.2)¶	30.7 (29.3–32.1)	33.5 (26.8–41.0)
Gay or lesbian	19.7 (18.2–21.3)	24.5 (20.2–29.4)	29.4 (27.5–31.4)	31.1 (24.7–38.2)
Straight or heterosexual	18.6 (18.4–18.8)	25.4 (24.7–26.0)¶	25.5 (25.2–25.7)	31.4 (29.9–33.0)**
Something else or don't know	14.4 (13.1–15.8)	27.8 (22.5–34.0)¶	20.8 (19.6–22.0)	31.6 (24.5–39.7)**
Self-rated health¶¶¶¶
Excellent/Very good	13.0 (12.8–13.2)	17.7 (17.2–18.3)¶	17.0 (16.9–17.2)	20.9 (19.8–22.1)**
Good	19.4 (19.1–19.7)	28.3 (27.4–29.2)¶	27.2 (26.9–27.5)	34.4 (32.3–36.4)**
Fair/Poor	30.9 (30.4–31.4)	44.7 (42.8–46.6)¶	44.7 (44.2–45.2)	55.3 (51.3–59.2)**
Hearing disability*****
Yes	32.2 (31.2–33.2)	42.4 (40.4–44.4)¶	42.2 (41.0–43.4)	51.2 (44.9–57.5)**
No	17.4 (17.2–17.5)	23.2 (22.8–23.7)¶	24.7 (24.6–24.9)	29.6 (28.6–30.7)**
Vision disability*****
Yes	29.6 (28.6–30.6)	40.4 (37.4–43.5)¶	40.2 (39.3–41.2)	51.4 (43.8–59.0)**
No	17.8 (17.6–17.9)	24.7 (24.2–25.1)¶	24.6 (24.4–24.7)	29.7 (28.7–30.8)**
Cognitive disability*****
Yes	32.6 (31.9–33.3)	47.2 (45.4–49.0)¶	43.6 (43.1–44.2)	55.0 (51.8–58.2)**
No	16.8 (16.6–17.0)	22.1 (21.7–22.6)¶	22.7 (22.5–22.9)	26.3 (25.3–27.4)
Mobility disability*****
Yes	46.6 (45.6–47.6)	58.0 (55.4–60.5)¶	61.8 (61.0–62.6)	68.6 (64.4–72.6)**
No	15.1 (14.9–15.2)	20.6 (20.1–21.0)¶	20.0 (19.8–20.1)	23.9 (22.9–24.9)**
Self-care disability*****
Yes	48.0 (46.4–49.6)	63.5 (59.8–67.0)¶	65.9 (64.4–67.3)	72.5 (65.0–78.9)
No	17.3 (17.2–17.5)	23.6 (23.2–24.1)¶	24.0 (23.9–24.2)	28.8 (27.8–29.8)**
Independent living disability*****
Yes	39.0 (38.1–40.0)	52.4 (49.8–55.0)¶	51.2 (50.4–51.9)	63.7 (59.4–67.8)**
No	17.2 (17.1–17.4)	23.3 (22.9–23.8)¶	23.1 (23.0–23.3)	27.3 (26.3–28.4)**

Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index; HS = high school; VA = Veterans Health Administration.

* Age-standardized to the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau projected adult population, using three age groups: 18–44, 45–64, and ≥65 years. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt20.pdf

^† Responded “yes” to the question, “Have you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you had some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia?”

^§ Veterans were defined as respondents who answered “yes” to the question, “Have you ever served on active duty in the United States Armed Forces, either in the regular military or in a National Guard or military reserve unit?”

^¶ Statistically significant (p≤0.05) difference between male veterans and male nonveterans (reference group).

** Statistically significant (p≤0.05) difference between female veterans and female nonveterans (reference group).

^†† Persons of Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) origin might be of any race but are categorized as Hispanic; all racial groups are non-Hispanic. Persons self-identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, other race, or multiracial were combined into “Other.”

^§§ Responses to the question, “What is the highest grade or year of school you completed?” were combined into the following groups: 1) less than HS graduate: never attended school or attended only kindergarten, grades 1–8, or grades 9–11; 2) HS graduate or equivalent: grade 12 or general educational development certificate; 3) technical school degree or some college: college 1–3 years; and 4) college degree or more: college ≥4 years.

^¶¶ The calculated variables for income were harmonized across years to create four groups. For 2021 data, the following responses were combined into the “≥$50,000” category: $50,000 to <$100,000, $100,000 to <$200,000, and ≥$200,000.

*** The calculated variable for BMI [weight (kg) / (height [m²])] was used to create the following four categories: underweight/healthy weight (<25.0), overweight (25.0 to <30.0), obesity I (30.0 to <35.0), and obesity II (≥35.0).

^††† The health care access module was optional; five, eight, 11, and seven U.S. states and territories contributed data in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. In 2021, the following responses were harmonized with 2017–2020 health insurance/health care categories: 1) Medicare and Medigap (private health insurance plans sold to supplement Medicare), 2) Medicaid and state-sponsored programs, 3) other government programs and Indian Health Service. Persons reporting that Children’s Health Insurance Program was their primary source of health care insurance or who did not know or refused were excluded from analysis.

^§§§ Statistically significant difference (p≤0.05) for health insurance type among male veterans. Employer- or union-sponsored is the reference group.

^¶¶¶ Statistically significant difference (p≤0.05) for health insurance type among female veterans. Employer- or union-sponsored is the reference group.

**** Estimates are not included because they might be unreliable when the number of respondents is <50 or absolute CI width is >30%.

^†††† The sexual orientation and gender identity module was optional; 28, 29, 31, 33, and 32 U.S. states and territories contributed data in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively.

^§§§§ In 2017, sexual orientation was assessed using the question, “Do you consider yourself to be…” with the following response options: straight, lesbian or gay, bisexual, other, and don’t know/not sure. During 2018–2021, sexual orientation was assessed using the question, “Which of the following best represents how you think of yourself?” and response options: gay, straight (that is, not gay), bisexual, something else, and I don’t know.

^¶¶¶¶ Self-rated health was assessed using the question, “Would you say that in general your health is” with the following response options: excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor. These were then combined into the following three categories: excellent/very good, good, and fair/poor.

***** Persons were categorized as having a disability if they answered “yes” to any of the six questions assessing the following disability types: vision, hearing, cognitive, mobility, self-care, or independent living.