Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the veterans with and without PTSD
| Characteristic | Study Group, No(%) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Non-PTSD (n=127,938) | PTSD (n=53,155) | |
| Age, mean ± sd (range), y | 69.9 ± 8.2 (55–100) | 66.2 ± 9.0 (55–100) |
| Female sex | 5,118 (4.0) | 1,169 (2.2) |
| > 25% college-educated ZCTA† | 37,358 (29.2) | 16,319 (30.7) |
| Median Income of ZCTA‡ | ||
| Low tertile (<$24.0K) | 41,708 (32.6) | 15,574 (29.3) |
| Middle tertile | 41,836 (32.7) | 17,275 (32.5) |
| High tertile (>$31.8K) | 39,661 (31.0) | 17,807 (33.5) |
| Hypertension | 74,460 (58.2) | 34,710 (65.3) |
| Diabetes | 30,321 (23.7) | 14,511 (27.3) |
| Myocardial infarct | 7,037 (5.5) | 4,146 (7.8) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 11,898 (9.3) | 6,379 (12.0) |
| Cancer | 20,726 (16.2) | 10,897 (20.5) |
| Alcohol abuse | 4,606 (3.6) | 8,345 (15.7) |
| Other substance abuse | 14,841 (11.6) | 13,927 (26.2) |
| History of Tobacco use | 3,710 (2.9) | 1,860 (3.5) |
| Major depression | 4,222 (3.3) | 20,199 (38.0) |
| Head injury | 384 (0.3) | 478 (0.9) |
Abbreviations: PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder; ZCTA, zip code tabulation area.
*
Data are presented as number (percentage) of veterans unless otherwise indicated. P-value by t-test for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables was <.001 for all variables.
†
Zip Code Tabulation Area from the 2000 US Census. College-educated indicates completion of a bachelor’s degree or higher.
‡
Median income levels are age-specific (<75 years and ≥75 years, calculated separately)