Table 1.
Distributions of Risk Factors for Cognitive Decline by Veteran Status at Enrollment in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study
| Non-Veteran (N = 7,051) Mean (SD) or N (%) |
Veteran (N = 279) Mean (SD) or N (%) |
t test or chi-squared test p value |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 70.9 (3.8) | 73.4 (3.8) | p < .001 |
| Age range | 65–80 | 65–80 | |
| Race/ethnicity (n = 3 missing) | |||
| Asian | 123 (1.7) | 0 (0.0) | p = .003 |
| African American | 510 (7.2) | 8 (2.9) | |
| Hispanic | 172 (2.4) | 3 (1.1) | |
| Non-Hispanic White | 6,122 (86.8) | 263 (94.3) | |
| Other | 124 (1.8) | 5 (1.8) | |
| Education (n = 11 missing) | |||
| Less than HS | 548 (7.8) | 6 (2.2) | p < .001 |
| High school, GED | 1,588 (22.6) | 33 (11.8) | |
| Some college | 2,822 (40.1) | 126 (45.2) | |
| College graduate or higher | 2,085 (29.6) | 114 (40.9) | |
| Marital status (n = 8 missing) | |||
| Never married | 227 (3.2) | 16 (5.7) | p = .03 |
| Divorced/separated | 868 (12.3) | 41 (14.7) | |
| Widowed | 2,187 (31.1) | 92 (33.0) | |
| Married/marriage-like relationship | 3,756 (53.4) | 130 (46.6) | |
| Occupation (n = 210 missing) | |||
| Managerial/professional | 2,318 (33.8) | 126 (46.2) | p < .001 |
| Technical, sales, admin support | 2,088 (30.5) | 76 (27.8) | |
| Service/laborer | 1,569 (22.9) | 53 (19.4) | |
| Homemaker only | 872 (12.7) | 18 (6.6) | |
| Employment status (n = 18 missing) | |||
| Not working | 5,783 (82.2) | 240 (86.3) | p = .08 |
| Employed | 1,251 (17.1) | 38 (13.7) | |
| Cardiovascular disease burden | |||
| Cardiovascular disease (n = 109 missing) | 1,210 (17.4) | 52 (19.0) | p = .51 |
| Angina (n = 65 missing) | 511 (7.3) | 30 (10.9) | p = .03 |
| Peripheral arterial disease (n = 58 missing) | 149 (2.1) | 9 (3.2) | p = .21 |
| Coronary revascularization (n = 132 missing) | 179 (2.6) | 9 (3.3) | p = .47 |
| Stroke | 110 (1.6) | 9 (3.2) | p = .03 |
| Cardiovascular disease risk factors | |||
| Hypertension | 2,738 (39.3) | 122 (44.5) | p = .08 |
| Diabetes | 515 (7.3) | 16 (5.7) | p = .32 |
| Smoking (miss = 107) | |||
| Never | 3,709 (53.4) | 122 (44.7) | p = .02 |
| Former | 2,740 (39.4) | 130 (47.6) | |
| Current | 501 (7.2) | 21 (7.7) | |
| Body mass index | 28.5 (5.7) | 28.0 (5.5) | p = .13 |
| Current alcohol consumption (miss = 17) | |||
| None | 3,276 (46.6) | 113 (40.8) | p = 0.15 |
| <1/day | 2,922 (41.5) | 125 (45.1) | |
| ≥1/day | 838 (11.9) | 39 (14.1) | |
| HT treatment assignment | p = .53 | ||
| CEE-Alone placebo | 1,395 (19.8) | 62 (22.2) | |
| CEE-Alone | 1,383 (19.6) | 47 (16.8) | |
| CEE + MPA placebo | 2,167 (30.7) | 90 (32.3) | |
| CEE + MPA | 2,106 (29.9) | 80 (28.7) | |
| Unadjusted 3MSE score | 95.20 (4.33) | 95.51 (3.54) | p = .23 |
Note: GED = general educational development; HT = hormone therapy; CEE = conjugated equine estrogens; MPA = medroxyprogesertone acetate; 3MSE = Modified Mini-Mental State Exam.