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. 2024 Mar 29;7(3):e244113. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.4113

Table 2. Miliary Service, Morbidity, and Participant-Reported Outcome Measures Assessed From VHA Electronic Health Records and Baseline and Lifestyle Million Veteran Program Surveys.

Measure 47,XXY Cohort 47,XYY Cohort
No. (%) P value No. (%) P value
Cases Controls Cases Controls
Source: VHA records
No. 862 4310 NA 747 3735 NA
Period of miliary service
Pre-Vietnam era 46 (5.3) 280 (6.5) .12 48 (6.4) 248 (6.6) .33
Vietnam era 463 (53.7) 2264 (52.8) 376 (50.3) 1882 (60.4)
Post-Vietnam era 137 (15.9) 571 (13.3) 122 (16.3) 530 (14.2)
Persian Gulf War era 163 (18.9) 918 (21.4) 148 (19.8) 839 (22.5)
Other or missing 54 (6.1) 256 (6.0) 53 (7.1) 236 (6.3)
First military service branch
Air Force 59 (7.0) 334 (7.7) .046 65 (8.7) 300 (8.0) .53
Army 224 (26.6) 1189 (27.6) 194 (26.0) 996 (26.7)
Navy 109 (12.9) 442 (10.2) 89 (11.9) 393 (10.5)
Othera 50 (5.9) 346 (8.0) 51 (6.8) 308 (8.2)
Unknown or missing 400 (47.5) 1999 (46.4) 348 (46.6) 1738 (46.5)
Combat service 125 (14.5) 571 (13.2) .71 102 (13.7) 512 (13.7) .67
Military discharge status
Honorable 422 (49.0) 2161 (50.1) .40 361 (48.3) 1867 (50.0) .01
General, Honorable Conditions 34 (3.9) 134 (3.1) 38 (5.1) 108 (2.3)
Other than Honorableb 2 (0.2) 4 (0.1) 0 (0) 7 (0.2)
Unknown or missing 404 (46.9) 2011 (46.7) 348 (46.6) 1753 (46.9)
100% VHA service connection 121 (14.0) 668 (15.5) .23 105 (14.1) 580 (15.5) .33
Height at enrollment, mean (SD), cm 182.6 (7.8) 178.0 (7.1) <.001 187.0 (8.3) 177.8 (7.3) <.001
Weight at enrollment, mean (SD), kg 103.3 (23.0) 95.3 (20.2) <.001 113.9 (28.3) 95.1 (20.2) <.001
BMI at enrollment, mean (SD) 31.4 (6.6) 30.5 (6.1) <.001 33.0 (7.7) 30.5 (6.1) <.001
Duration of VHA data, median (IQR), y 18 (13-21) 17 (12-20) <.001 17 (13-20) 16 (12-20) <.001
Charlson Comorbidity Index
Mean (SD) 4.30 (2.72) 3.90 (2.47) <.001 4.45 (2.90) 3.82 (2.50) <.001
10-y survival, % (95% CI) 44 (38-50) 56 (54-58) <.001 39 (32-46) 59 (56-61) <.001
Outpatient encounters, median (IQR), No. per y 22.6 (11.8-37.8) 16.8 (9.4-28.0) <.001 21.4 (12.4-33.8) 17.0 (9.4-28.2) <.001
Emergency encounters, median (IQR), No. per y 0.44 (0.19-1.0) 0.33 (0.14-0.7) <.001 0.50 (0.20-0.95) 0.33 (0.14-0.68) <.001
Inpatient encounters, median (IQR), No. per y 0.24 (0.11-0.49) 0.19 (0.1-0.42) .001 0.24 (0.11-0.49) 0.19 (0.10-0.42) .001
Deceased 110 (12.8) 510 (11.5) .48 112 (15.0) 430 (11.5) .02
Age of death, mean (SD), y 71.3 (9.6) 70.4 (9.5) .39 71.3 (9.9) 71.4 (10.0) .95
Source: Baseline Survey
No. 574 2758 NA 500 2385 NA
Age at survey, mean (SD), yc 64.0 (10.0) 64.2 (10.2) .72 63.7 (10.0) 63.5 (10.7) .61
Military service branch(es)d
Army 302 (52.6) 1366 (49.5) .10 236 (47.2) 1152 (48.3) .15
Navy 138 (24.0) 586 (21.2) 130 (26.0) 527 (22.1)
Air Force 88 (15.3) 496 (18.0) 91 (18.2) 413 (17.3)
Othera 101 (17.6) 562 (20.4) 88 (17.6) 499 (20.1)
Deployed outside the USe 423 (73.7) 2076 (75.3) .46 363 (72.6) 1773 (74.3) .45
Exposure to biochemical warfaree 74 (12.9) 264 (9.6) .04 64 (12.8) 230 (9.6) .09
Health care from VHA facilities, %
<50 156 (27.1) 813 (29.4) .42 138 (27.6) 713 (29.9) .16
51-75 49 (8.5) 189 (8.5) 42 (8.4) 158 (6.6)
76-99 93 (16.2) 468 (16.2) 75 (15.0) 426 (17.9)
Hospitalization this yeare
≥1 At VHA facility 162 (33.1) 484 (20.0) <.001 110 (26.1) 413 (19.8) .004
≥1 At non-VA facility 97 (25.5) 362 (18.1) <.001 93 (26.4) 323 (18.6) <.001
Prescription medications, No.
0-3 180 (33.2) 1107 (42.9) <.001 170 (36.2) 966 (43.3) <.001
4-9 230 (42.4) 1068 (41.4) 194 (41.3) 914 (41.0)
>10 132 (24.4) 407 (15.8) 106 (22.6) 348 (15.6)
Health-related QOLf
Physical functioning summary 34.2 (12.0) 37.8 (12.8) <.001 36.3 (11.6) 37.9 (12.0) .004
Mental health summary 45.3 (14.0) 47.8 (13.3) <.001 46.3 (13.8) 47.3 (13.5) .15
Source: lifestyle survey
No. 429 2113 NA 350 1753 NA
Age at survey, mean (SD), yc 65.3 (9.7) 65.5 (9.4) .70 64.6 (10.2) 64.8 (10.1) .73
Reproductive health
Sexual problems (eg, pain) 57 (13.5) 184 (8.9) .005 30 (8.6) 157 (9.0) .90
Erectile dysfunction 227 (53.9) 1218 (59.2) .05 208 (59.4) 1025 (58.5) .79
Fertility problems 215 (51.1) 139 (6.8) <.001 53 (15.1) 121 (6.9) <.001
Fathered a child 76 (18.1) 1627 (79.1) <.001 200 (57.1) 1382 (78.8) <.001
Neuropsychological health
MOS Cog-Rg 12.6 (7.4) 11.6 (7.1) .01 13.1 (8.1) 11.7 (7.1) .003
PHQ-4h
Total 2.93 (3.47) 2.25 (3.17) <.001 2.80 (3.26) 2.40 (3.26) .046
Anxiety subscale 1.45 (1.13) 1.13 (1.69) .001 1.38 (1.87) 1.21 (1.74) .12
Depression subscale 1.54 (1.88) 1.15 (1.67) <.001 1.46 (1.83) 1.20 (1.71) .01
PCL totali 35.8 (17.1) 31.4 (15.6) <.001 34.8 (15.8) 32.1 (12.9) .004

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared); MOS Cog-R, Medical Outcomes Survey Cognitive Functioning Revised Scale; NA, not applicable; PCL, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist; PHQ-4, Patient Health Questionnaire-4; QOL, quality of life; VHA, Veterans Health Administration.

a

Other military branches include Coast Guard, Marine Corps, National Guard, and Merchant Marines.

b

Dishonorable Discharge was combined with Other than Honorable Discharge due to low numbers.

c

Participants were matched on age at time of study enrollment, which does not necessarily indicate balanced age at time of survey completion.

d

More than 1 selection was allowed; therefore, percentages add up to more than 100%.

e

At least 10% of respondents did not answer these questions; however, the proportion of nonresponders was similar among all groups, and results did not change if missing was included as a separate category.

f

Assessed using the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (range 0-100; higher values indicate better QOL).

g

Scores are norm-based, with higher values indicating more problems.

h

Total range, 0 to 12; subscale ranges, 0-6; higher values indicate more concern.

i

Range, 0 to 80; higher values indicate more concern.