Abstract
BackgroundHealth behaviors and cardiometabolic disease risk factors may differ between military and civilian populations; therefore, in U.S. active duty military personnel, we assessed relationships between demographic characteristics, self-reported health behaviors, and doctor-informed medical conditions.MethodsData were self-reported by 27,034 active duty military and Coast Guard personnel who responded to the 2011 Department of Defense Health Related Behaviors Survey. Multivariate linear and logistic regressions were used to estimate cross-sectional associations between (1) demographic characteristics (age, sex, service branch, marital status, children, race/ethnicity, pay grade) and self-reported behaviors (exercise, diet, smoking, alcohol, sleep); (2) demographic characteristics and doctor-informed medical conditions (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, low high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, hyperglycemia) and overweight/obesity; and (3) behaviors and doctor-informed medical conditions.ResultsAmong respondents (age 29.9 ± 0.1 years, 14.7% female), females reported higher intake than men of fruit, vegetables, and dairy; those with higher education reported higher intakes of whole grains; those currently married and/or residing with children reported higher intake of starches. Older age and female sex were associated with higher odds (ORs 1.25 to 12.54 versus the youngest age group) of overweight/obesity. Older age and female sex were also associated with lower odds (ORs 0.29 to 0.65 versus male sex) of doctor-informed medical conditions, except for blood glucose, for which females had higher odds. Those currently married had higher odds of high cholesterol and overweight/obesity, and separated/divorced/widowed respondents had higher odds of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Short sleep duration (< 5 versus 7–8 h/night) was associated with higher odds (ORs 1.36to 2.22) of any given doctor-informed medical condition. Strength training was associated with lower probability of high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and low HDL, and higher probability of overweight/obesity. Dietary factors were variably associated with doctor-informed medical conditions and overweight/obesity.ConclusionsThis study observed pronounced associations between health behaviors—especially sleep—and medical conditions, thus adding to evidence that sleep is a critical, potentially modifiable behavior within this population. When possible, adequate sleep should continue to be promoted as an important part of overall health and wellness throughout the military community.
Highlights
Health behaviors and cardiometabolic disease risk factors may differ between military and civilian populations; in U.S active duty military personnel, we assessed relationships between demographic characteristics, self-reported health behaviors, and doctor-informed medical conditions
Of the 27,034 respondents included in the analysis, 29, 17, 21, 19, and 14%, were in the Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy, and United States Coast Guard (USCG), respectively (Table 1)
In exploratory factor analyses of health behaviors, associations of behavioral patterns— two patterns in particular—with medical conditions were associated with medical conditions as expected: the pattern characterized by a “healthy” diet was associated with lower odds of all medical conditions except high blood pressure, while the pattern characterized by “bad” habits was associated with higher odds of every medical condition
Summary
Health behaviors and cardiometabolic disease risk factors may differ between military and civilian populations; in U.S active duty military personnel, we assessed relationships between demographic characteristics, self-reported health behaviors, and doctor-informed medical conditions. To systematically assess health behaviors among active duty personnel, the U.S Department of Defense conducts a triennial Health Related Behaviors Survey (HRBS) of active duty military personnel [1], which assesses a range of self-reported health behaviors and risks, such as physical activity, diet, drug and alcohol use, posttraumatic stress, and doctor-informed medical conditions. The HRBS provides data that are otherwise unavailable in this large subset of the U.S population, approximately 1.3 million service members, since active duty military are excluded from national or state health-related surveys, such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) or the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
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