Early mortality experience in a large military cohort and a comparison of mortality data sources

Table 1 Distribution of Mortality by Demographic and Military Characteristics Comparing Panel 1 Participants and Non-Participants for the Millennium Cohort Study, United States, July 1, 2001-December 31, 2006

Baseline Characteristics	Panel 1 Participants^a		Panel 1 Non-Participants^b
	Total Sample n = 76,960 %^d	Deceased^c n = 341 %^d	Total Sample n = 132,186 %^d	Deceased^c n = 820 %^d
Gender
Male	73.2	80.1	78.0	88.5
Female	26.8	19.9	22.0	11.5
Birth year
Pre-1960	21.6	43.1	13.2	27.3
1960-1969	37.9	30.8	29.3	22.9
1970-1979	34.6	21.1	46.7	39.3
1980 or later	5.9	5.0	10.9	10.5
Race/ethnicity
White non-Hispanic	69.6	74.8	63.9	65.0
Black non-Hispanic	13.8	11.4	20.9	20.2
Other	16.6	13.8	15.2	14.8
Marital status
Not married	30.1	26.1	43.1	42.2
Married	63.1	65.4	51.3	49.6
Divorced	6.9	8.5	5.7	8.2
Education
High school or less	48.9	49.3	61.0	66.0
Some college	25.5	25.8	24.6	19.9
Bachelor's degree	16.5	17.3	10.1	10.1
Advanced degree	9.1	7.6	4.3	4.0
Service component
Reserve/National Guard	43.1	57.2	43.4	47.3
Active duty	56.9	42.8	56.6	52.7
Branch of service
Army	47.4	50.7	43.5	51.8
Air Force	29.1	29.9	29.8	22.4
Navy/Coast Guard	18.5	14.7	19.9	18.4
Marine Corps	5.1	4.7	6.8	7.3
Military pay grade
Enlisted	77.0	76.8	87.8	88.7
Officer	23.0	23.2	12.2	11.3
Occupational category
Combat specialists	20.0	26.1	21.3	27.7
Health care specialists	10.4	9.1	7.6	6.3
Service supply and functional support	28.7	27.6	26.6	23.4
Other	40.9	37.2	44.5	42.6
Deployment experience^e
Pre-2001	18.9	22.3	18.3	23.2
2001-2006	21.7	16.4	21.5	13.5
Pre-2001 and 2001-2006	18.6	11.4	16.3	11.5
None	40.8	49.9	43.9	51.8
Separated from military service^f
No	76.5	84.5	73.8	83.2
Yes	23.5	15.5	26.2	16.8

^a Includes Panel 1 Millennium Cohort participants who enrolled in the study between July 1, 2001, and June 30, 2003, and had complete demographic data.
^b Includes service members who had complete demographic data, were presumed alive as of June 30, 2001, were able to be contacted by mail and were invited to enroll in the first panel of the Millennium Cohort Study, but either declined, did not respond, or were ineligible.
^c Data sources include Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Defense Manpower Data Center.
^d Percents may not sum to 100 due to rounding.
^e Deployment category "Pre-2001" refers to individuals deployed to the 1991 Gulf War or to Bosnia, Kosovo, or Southwest Asia between January 1, 1998, and September 30, 2000; the category "2001-2006" includes individuals deployed in support of the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan between September 1, 2001, and December 31, 2006.
^f Separation (retirement or early separation) from military service as of December 31, 2006 (excludes death as a reason for separation).

ISSN: 1478-7954