Table 2.
Health-related characteristics of veteran vs. non-veteran males in the Multiethnic Cohort, 1993–1996*
| Non-veterans (n=5,964) | Veterans (n=14,975) | P† | Veterans
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enlisted (n=12,195) | Officers (n=2,452) | P† | ||||
| BMI (kg/m2, %) | ||||||
| <18.5 (underweight) | 0.9 | 0.7 | <0.0001 | 0.7 | 0.7 | <0.0001 |
| 18.5–24.9 (normal) | 43.7 | 38.7 | 38.6 | 40.1 | ||
| 25–29.9 (overweight) | 41.8 | 45.9 | 45.5 | 47.6 | ||
| ≥30 (obese) | 13.6 | 14.7 | 15.2 | 11.6 | ||
| Smoking status (%) | ||||||
| Never | 40.4 | 31.7 | <0.0001 | 29.7 | 42.9 | <0.0001 |
| Former | 46.6 | 53.5 | 55.4 | 47.8 | ||
| Current | 13.0 | 14.8 | 14.9 | 9.3 | ||
| Pack years for ever smokers (mean (SD)) | 17.2 (17.1) | 19.1 (20.8) | <0.0001 | 19.5 (22.4) | 17.7 (17.9) | <0.0001 |
| Heavy alcohol drinking (≥2 drinks/day, %) | 15.8 | 17.6 | 0.0052 | 17.6 | 17.8 | 0.91 |
| Vitamin and mineral supplement use (%) | 56.0 | 55.8 | 0.84 | 55.9 | 58.0 | 0.025 |
| Physically active (≥30 min/day, %)‡ | 32.1 | 31.4 | 0.41 | 30.9 | 31.8 | 0.38 |
*
Adjusted for age and race/ethnicity.
†
Based on chi-square test (proportions) and t-test (means)
‡
Strenuous sports or vigorous work