Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of Veterans Affairs Patients, 2006-2016.
| Characteristic | Patients, No. (%) (N = 9904) |
|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD), y | 67.71 (7.93) |
| Sex | |
| Men | 9539 (96.31) |
| Women | 365 (3.69) |
| BMI, mean (SD) | 27.18 (5.41) |
| White race | 8225 (83.82) |
| Area Deprivation Index score, median (IQR) | 55.56 (43.03-65.04) |
| County household income, median (IQR), $ | 47 628 (41 585-55 452) |
| County high school graduation rate | 78.39 (9.27) |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index score, median (IQR) | 7 (5-8) |
| Smoking status | |
| Former | 4800 (48.75) |
| Current | 4972 (50.49) |
| Perioperative characteristic | |
| Yearly hospital case load, median (IQR) | 106 (74-160) |
| Endobronchial ultrasonography or mediastinoscopy | 1739 (17.56) |
| Wait time from CT scan to surgical procedure (RTTS), d | |
| Mean (SD) | 70.08 (38.58) |
| Median (IQR) | 62 (40-92) |
| Tumor size, mean (SD), mm | 27.32 (10.64) |
| Resection | |
| Lobectomy | 6923 (70.10) |
| Wedge | 2172 (21.99) |
| Segment | 622 (6.30) |
| Pneumonectomy | 159 (1.61) |
| Incision type | |
| Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical procedure | 4670 (53.27) |
| Thoracotomy | 4096 (46.73) |
| Lymph node collection | |
| <10 | 6215 (68.99) |
| ≥10 | 3045 (31.01) |
| Histology | |
| Adenocarcinoma | 5236 (52.88) |
| Squamous | 3366 (34.00) |
| Other | 1299 (13.12) |
| Grade | |
| I | 1195 (13.05) |
| II | 4808 (52.49) |
| III | 3022 (32.99) |
| IV | 135 (1.47) |
| Outcomes | |
| 30-d mortality | 203 (2.05) |
| 30-d readmission | 810 (8.18) |
| Major complications | |
| Pneumonia | 618 (6.24) |
| Empyema | 87 (0.88) |
| Respiratory or cardiac failure | 534 (5.39) |
| Myocardial infarction | 97 (0.98) |
| Pulmonary embolism | 53 (0.54) |
| Prolonged ventilation (>48 h) | 387 (3.91) |
| Pathologic upstaging | 1171 (12.33) |
| Positive surgical margins | 309 (3.12) |
| Recurrence | 4158 (41.98) |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared); CT, computed tomography; IQR, interquartile range; RTTS, radiological time to surgical treatment.