Table 1.
Cohort demographics and clinical characteristics at cohort entry by incident diabetes status
| All veterans* | Veterans without incident diabetes† | Veterans with incident diabetes | Not measured or missing | |
| N (%) or mean (SD) | N (%) or mean (SD) | N (%) or mean (SD) | N (%) | |
| Total | 6 082 018 | 5 145 422 | 936 596 | |
| Demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age | 58.3 (17) | 53.9 (16.1) | 61.1 (12.2) | |
| Age categories | ||||
| 18–34 | 745 511 (12.3) | 592 256 (16.7) | 21 788 (2.3) | |
| 35–49 | 1 009 677 (16.6) | 725 427 (20.4) | 130 345 (13.9) | |
| 50–64 | 2 114 275 (34.8) | 1 280 132 (36.1) | 451 964 (48.3) | |
| 65–79 | 1 499 787 (24.7) | 786 213 (22.2) | 261 592 (27.9) | |
| 80+ | 712 681 (11.7) | 165 264 (4.7) | 70 900 (7.6) | |
| Gender | 124 (0) | |||
| Male | 5 577 892 (91.7) | 3 167 502 (89.2) | 886 763 (94.7) | |
| Female | 504 002 (8.3) | 381 768 (10.8) | 49 818 (5.3) | |
| Race ethnicity | 612 210 (10.07) | |||
| Non-Hispanic white | 4 092 942 (74.8) | 2 412 225 (73.8) | 614 511 (70.8) | |
| Non-Hispanic black | 889 465 (16.3) | 544 434 (16.7) | 173 057 (19.9) | |
| Hispanic | 331 817 (6.1) | 211 459 (6.5) | 55 301 (6.4) | |
| Non-Hispanic Asian | 55 564 (1) | 37 545 (1.2) | 7705 (0.9) | |
| NH-Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islandar | 50 426 (0.9) | 30 228 (0.9) | 9020 (1) | |
| NH-American Indian or Alaska Native | 49 594 (0.9) | 31 107 (1) | 8474 (1) | |
| Marital status | 453 512 (7.46) | |||
| Married or living with a partner | 3 104 312 (55.2) | 1 832 844 (55.2) | 477 337 (56.2) | |
| Single | 2 524 194 (44.9) | 1 488 661 (44.8) | 372 630 (43.8) | |
| Clinical characteristics | ||||
| HbA1c | 5.7 (0.6) | 5.5 (0.4) | 6.1 (0.9) | 3 608 600 (59.33) |
| HbA1c categories | ||||
| Normal (<5.7%) | 1 311 768 (53) | 875 677 (62.3) | 128 681 (25.8) | |
| Pre-diabetes (5.7%–6.49%) | 1 027 336 (41.5) | 514 758 (36.6) | 268 105 (53.8) | |
| Diabetes range (≥6.5%) | 134 314 (5.4) | 15 302 (1.1) | 101 746 (20.4) | |
| Weight in pounds | 196.9 (40.7) | 196.6 (38.9) | 214.7 (45.1) | 260 313 (4.28) |
| BMI | 28.8 (5.4) | 28.7 (5.1) | 31.3 (6) | 260 313 (4.28) |
| Underweight (<18.5) | 48 954 (0.8) | 18 042 (0.5) | 4417 (0.5) | |
| Normal weight (18.5–<25) | 1 308 427 (22.5) | 732 429 (21.6) | 105 224 (11.7) | |
| Overweight (25–<30) | 2 362 867 (40.6) | 1 441 730 (42.5) | 294 224 (32.6) | |
| Obese (≥30) | 2 101 457 (36.1) | 1 197 716 (35.3) | 499 082 (55.3) | |
| Measured blood pressure‡ | ||||
| Systolic blood pressure | 130.4 (14.7) | 129.3 (14.2) | 133.2 (14.9) | 290 882 (4.78) |
| Diastolic blood pressure | 76.8 (10) | 77.6 (9.6) | 78 (10.1) | 290 882 (4.78) |
| Elevated blood pressure (≥130/80) | 3 516 559 (60.7) | 2 011 621 (59.4) | 609 072 (67.9) | 290 882 (4.78) |
| Elevated blood pressure (≥140/90) | 1 499 481 (25.9) | 796 617 (23.5) | 287 665 (32.1) | 290 882 (4.78) |
| Hypertension | ||||
| ≥1 International classification of disease (ICD) code or two consecutive elevated BP‡ (≥130/80) | 2 032 490 (33.4) | 2 137 040 (60.2) | 760 631 (81.2) | |
| ≥1 ICD code or two consecutive elevated BP‡ (≥140/90) | 2 805 063 (46.1) | 1 617 389 (45.6) | 667 469 (71.3) | |
| Lipids | ||||
| Total cholesterol | 185.5 (38.4) | 188.3 (37.7) | 185.4 (40.2) | 1 101 271 (18.11) |
| Triglyceride | 140.8 (88.9) | 137.6 (86.9) | 168.1 (103.2) | 1 118 227 (18.39) |
| Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) | 112.6 (33.1) | 115.3 (32.8) | 111.4 (34.1) | 1 151 308 (18.93) |
| High-density lipoproteins (HDL) | 46.3 (14.2) | 47.3 (14.3) | 42.4 (12.5) | 1 126 777 (18.53) |
| Hyperlipidaemia§ | 2 681 683 (44.1) | 1 371 518 (38.6) | 408 288 (43.6) | |
| Smoking status | 3 853 822 (63.36) | |||
| Current smoker | 948 272 (42.6) | 561 968 (41.9) | 140 333 (44.3) | |
| Not a smoker | 1 279 924 (57.4) | 780 134 (58.1) | 176 777 (55.8) | |
| Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) | 80.1 (18.3) | 82.5 (16.7) | 78.6 (18.4) | 2 718 664 (44.7) |
| eGFR categories | ||||
| eGFR ≥90 (stage 1) | 1 036 900 (30.8) | 691 968 (33.9) | 145 390 (27.9) | |
| eGFR ≥60 to <90 (stage 2) | 1 899 314 (56.5) | 1 180 774 (57.8) | 300 183 (57.7) | |
| eGFR <60 (stages 3, 4 or 5) | 427 140 (12.7) | 169 856 (8.3) | 75 168 (14.4) | |
| Chronic kidney disease (ICD codes) | 150 823 (2.5) | 47 353 (1.3) | 29 236 (3.1) | |
| Ischaemic heart disease (ICD codes) | 999 927 (16.4) | 378 832 (10.7) | 209 448 (22.4) | |
| Heart failure (ICD codes) | 181 375 (3) | 40 411 (1.1) | 41 272 (4.4) | |
| Peripheral vascular disease (ICD codes) | 256 054 (4.2) | 77 339 (2.2) | 55 242 (5.9) | |
| Stroke (ICD codes) | 30 423 (0.5) | 10 724 (0.3) | 6275 (0.7) | |
| Agent orange exposure (exposed) | ||||
| Chronic hepatitis C | 102 534 (1.7) | 51 789 (1.5) | 21 382 (2.3) | |
| Hyperuricaemia | 180 941 (3) | 74 543 (2.1) | 54 981 (5.9) | |
| Polycystic ovary syndrome | 4970 (1) | 3748 (1) | 798 (1.6) | |
| Gestational diabetes | 157 (0.03) | 131 (0.03) | 22 (0.04) | |
| Liver enzymes | ||||
| Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) | 25.7 (14.3) | 25.7 (14.2) | 26.7 (14.7) | 1 731 271 (28.47) |
| Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) | 29.5 (19.8) | 30.3 (19.9) | 32.4 (21.1) | 1 634 812 (26.88) |
| Elevated AST (>40 U/L) | 277 603 (6.4) | 156 503 (6.2) | 56 466 (8.3) | 1 731 271 (28.47) |
| Elevated ALT (>40 U/L) | 778 931 (17.5) | 482 342 (18.6) | 158 747 (22.8) | 1 634 812 (26.88) |
| Fatty liver disease | 253 134 (10.4) | 136 847 (10.8) | 67 367 (15.7) | 3 654 047 (60.08) |
*Including those lost to follow-up and those died during the study period.
†Only patients who completed the follow-up and were diabetes free at the end of the study.
‡Only recent (within 2 years of cohort entry) BP measurements were used. Nighttime BP (8 PM to 7 AM) and BP measured in ER were excluded.
§Hyperlipidaemia was defined as at least 2 ICD-9/10 codes for hyperlipidaemia, total cholesterol >240 mg/dL or lipid lowering medication use.
BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure.