Table 1.

Characteristics of the MM study cohort of white and black US male veterans

Characteristics	Whites		Blacks
	Non-MM	MM	Non-MM	MM
No. of patients	3 666 204	3 040	830 733	1 601
Median age at study entry, y*	53.5	59.9	47.7	57.6
Mean y of follow-up†	11.7	7.6	11.9	8.5
Person-y at risk†	42 741 577	23 112	9 875 835	13 658
Median no. of hospital visits	3	4	3	4
Median age at MM diagnosis, y	NA	67.6	NA	66.3

NA indicates not applicable.

^*Age at first discharge record for inpatient hospitalization at Veterans Affairs hospitals between July 1, 1969, and September 30, 1996.

^†The first year of follow-up was censored.