TABLE 1.
Demographic Characteristics, US Air Force Fighter Aviators, and Other Officers, 1970–2004 (N = 386,190)
| Fighter Aviators (n = 34,976) | Other Officers (n = 351,214) | P | |
| Age, mean (SD) | |||
| At active duty entrance | 23.1 (3.4) | 25.1 (4.5) | <0.001 |
| At incidence censoring∗ | 57.4 (17.7) | 49.7 (19.7) | <0.001 |
| At mortality censoring† | 64.1 (14.4) | 59.8 (16.0) | <0.001 |
| Sex, no. (%) | |||
| Male | 34,760 (99.4) | 293,840 (83.7) | <0.001 |
| Female | 216 (0.6) | 57,374 (16.3) | |
| Race, no. (%) | |||
| White | 28,196 (80.6) | 260,330 (74.1) | <0.001 |
| Black | 5960 (17.0) | 64,199 (18.3) | |
| Hispanic | 193 (0.6) | 6483 (1.8) | |
| AI/AN | 189 (0.5) | 6591 (1.9) | |
| Asian/PI | 80 (0.2) | 4562 (1.3) | |
| Other/missing | 358 (1.0) | 9049 (2.6) | |
AI, American Indian; AN, Alaskan Native; PI, Pacific Islander; SD, standard deviation.
∗
Age at first cancer diagnosis, or age at the last medical encounter in the Defense Medical Surveillance System, or age at the last “as of” date in the personnel record.
†
Age at death or on the last day of the surveillance period (December 31, 2018).