TABLE 1.

Sample Characteristics of Veterans and Nonveterans: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2004

	Veterans, %	Nonveterans, %	P
Race/ethnicity			<.001
White	84.5	79.3
Hispanic	3.1	6.4
African American	12.4	14.3
Racial saliencea			.45
≤1/mo	82.3	81.8
1/wk	7.1	6.8
≥1/d	10.5	11.4
Gender			<.001
Women	6.9	59.4
Men	93.1	40.6
Age, y			<.001
18−24	4.5	15.4
25−34	9.3	19.4
35−44	13.9	21.2
45−54	17.2	19.2
55−64	22.6	11.3
≥65	32.5	13.5
Income, $			<.001
< 15 000	6.2	11.3
15 000−24 999	16.1	18.2
25 000−34 999	15.5	15.0
35 000−49 999	20.6	17.1
> 50 000	41.6	38.5
Education			<.001
< High school	6.2	11.6
High school graduate	31.2	32.6
Some college	29.1	25.6
College degree	33.5	30.2
Health care coverage			<.001
Yes	90.8	84.1
No	9.2	15.9
Cost of medical care prohibitive in past 12 mo			<.001
No	91.3	86.0
Yes	8.7	14.0
Health status			<.001
Excellent, very good, or good	82.1	85.0
Fair or poor	17.9	15.0
State			<.001
Arkansas	13.0	12.0
Colorado	20.3	20.3
Delaware	4.1	3.7
District of Columbia	2.0	2.8
Mississippi	11.4	12.9
Rhode Island	4.5	5.1
District of Columbia	22.4	18.2
Wisconsin	22.3	25.0

Note. Percentages were based on weighted data. For veterans, unweighted n = 5 233; weighted n = 2 363 540. For nonveterans, unweighted n = 30 669; weighted n = 13 502 210.

^aDefined as frequency of thoughts about one's own race.