Baseline characterization and annual trends of body mass index for a mega-biobank cohort of US veterans 2011–2017

Xuan-Mai T Nguyen; Rachel M Quaden; Rebecca J Song; Yuk-Lam Ho; Jacqueline Honerlaw; Stacey Whitbourne; Scott L DuVall; Jennifer Deen; Saiju Pyarajan; Jennifer Moser; Grant D Huang; Sumitra Muralidhar; John Concato; Philip S Tsao; Christopher J O'Donnell; Peter W. F. Wilson; Luc Djousse; David R Gagnon; J Michael Gaziano; Kelly Cho; On Behalf of the VA Million Veteran Program

doi:10.4103/jhrr.jhrr_10_18

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Year : 2018 | Volume : 5 | Issue : 2 | Page : 98-107

Baseline characterization and annual trends of body mass index for a mega-biobank cohort of US veterans 2011–2017

Xuan-Mai T Nguyen¹, Rachel M Quaden², Rebecca J Song², Yuk-Lam Ho², Jacqueline Honerlaw², Stacey Whitbourne¹, Scott L DuVall³, Jennifer Deen⁴, Saiju Pyarajan⁵, Jennifer Moser⁴, Grant D Huang⁴, Sumitra Muralidhar⁴, John Concato⁶, Philip S Tsao⁷, Christopher J O'Donnell⁸, Peter W. F. Wilson⁹, Luc Djousse¹⁰, David R Gagnon¹¹, J Michael Gaziano¹, Kelly Cho¹, On Behalf of the VA Million Veteran Program¹²
¹ Massachusetts Area Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System; Department of Medicine, Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
² Massachusetts Area Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
³ Department of Veterans, Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
⁴ Office of Research and Development, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC, USA
⁵ Massachusetts Area Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
⁶ Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven; Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
⁷ Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System, Palo Alto; Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
⁸ Massachusetts Area Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
⁹ Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center; School of Medicine and Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
¹⁰ Massachusetts Area Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System; Department of Medicine, Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
¹¹ Massachusetts Area Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System; Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

Correspondence Address:
Xuan-Mai T Nguyen
VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 S. Huntington Ave., 151-MAV, Boston, MA 02130
USA

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

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DOI: 10.4103/jhrr.jhrr_10_18

Aim: Million Veteran Program (MVP) is the largest ongoing mega-cohort biobank program in the US with 570,131 enrollees as of May 2017. The primary aim is to describe demographics, military service, and major diseases and comorbidities of the MVP cohort. Our secondary aim is to examine body mass index (BMI), a proxy for general health, among enrollees. Materials and Method: The study population consists of Veterans who actively use the Veterans Health Administration in the US. Data evaluated in this paper combine health information from multiple sources to provide the most comprehensive demographic profile and information on height and weight of MVP enrollees. A standardized cleaning algorithm was used to curate the demographic variables for each participant in MVP. For height and weight, we derived a final data point for each participant to evaluate BMI. Statistical Analysis Used: Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare the differences in BMI categories across enrollment years adjusting for gender, race, and age. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analyses were conducted using Statistical Analysis System 9.2. Results: The MVP cohort consists of 90.4% of males with an average age of 61.9 years (standard deviation [SD] = 13.9). MVP is the largest multiethnic biobank cohort within the Veteran population with 73.9% White, 19.0% Black, and 6.5% Hispanic. The most common self-reported disease was hypertension (62.6%) for males and depression (47.5%) for females. Mean BMI was 29.7 kg/m² (SD = 5.8) with 38.2% obese and 42.3% overweight. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that demographic representation in MVP is similar to the Veterans Health Administration population and contrasts with the overall National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey US population. The prevalence of overweight and obese is high among US Veterans, and future studies will examine the role of BMI and disease risk in the Veteran population.

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