The Health of Male Veterans and Nonveterans Aged 25-64: United States, 2007-2010

The well-being of military personnel and their families is a topic of growing concern in public health. The effects of military service on physical and psychological health, especially after extended overseas deployments, are complex. There may also be long-term consequences of military service for the health and health care utilization of veterans as they age (1). Today, over 12 million men aged 25–64 in the United States are veterans, representing 15% of the total U.S. male population at those ages (2). More attention is now being paid to gathering accurate data to help veterans readjust to civilian life (3). Many studies of veterans only use information from military or veteran databases, which limits the ability to make comparisons with the overall population. This report uses data from the 2007–2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to describe the health status of community-dwelling male veterans aged 25–64. It directly compares the health status of veterans with nonveterans on a variety of measures.