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Table 2 Patient characteristics, comorbid conditions and health problems across assigned blast groupings

From: Relationship between clinician documented blast exposure and pulmonary function: a retrospective chart review from a national specialty clinic

 

Overall (n = 307)

No blast (n = 208)

Single mild (n = 52)

Multiple mild (n = 47)

p-value***

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Age (years)

40.5

9.7

41.0

9.8

39.4

9.4

39.2

9.2

0.25

Height (m)

1.8

0.1

1.7

0.1

1.8

0.1

1.8

0.1

0.11

Weight (kg)

93.8

18.9

92.4

18.1

98.2

16.0

94.8

24.2

0.13

BMI (kg/m2)

30.4

5.2

30.2

5.0

31.1

4.9

30.5

6.2

0.57

Cumulative deployment duration (months)

14.4

8.6

13.4

7.7

14.8

7.8

18.1

11.8

0.03

Post-deployment duration (years) (Missing data: n = 1, 0.3%)

8.6

3.8

8.4

3.9

8.9

3.5

8.8

3.4

0.74

 

Median

IQR

Median

IQR

Median

IQR

Median

IQR

 

Smoking pack years* (Missing data: n = 11, 3.6%)

0

0, 9

0

0, 9

0

0, 9

4

0, 10

0.08

 

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

 

Sex

 Male

257

83.7

166

79.8

48

92.3

43

91.5

0.03

 Female

50

16.3

42

20.2

4

7.7

4

8.5

 Missing data

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

Race/Ethnicity

 Non-Hispanic White

193

62.9

123

59.1

37

71.2

33

70.2

0.18

 Non-Hispanic Black

19

6.2

15

7.2

1

1.9

3

6.4

 Non-Hispanic Other

5

1.6

4

1.9

1

1.9

0

0.0

 Hispanic

57

18.6

37

17.8

10

19.2

10

21.3

 Unknown

33

10.7

29

13.9

3

5.8

1

2.1

 Missing data

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

Branch

 Army

203

66.1

128

61.5

35

67.3

40

85.1

0.001

 Air Force

42

13.7

38

18.3

2

3.8

2

4.3

 Marine

39

12.7

21

10.1

13

25.0

5

10.6

 Navy

18

5.9

16

7.7

2

3.8

0

0.0

 Missing data

5

1.6

5

2.4

0

0.0

0

0.0

Smoking status

 Never

150

48.9

109

52.4

27

51.9

14

29.8

0.06

 Former

104

33.9

67

32.2

16

30.8

21

44.7

 Current

53

17.3

32

15.4

9

17.3

12

25.5

 Missing data

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

Lower respiratory symptoms**

 None

76

24.8

51

24.5

16

30.8

9

19.1

0.71

 Mild (1/3)

68

22.1

45

21.6

11

21.2

12

25.5

 Moderate (2/3)

48

15.6

35

16.8

6

11.5

7

14.9

 Severe (3/3)

47

15.3

31

14.9

6

11.5

10

21.3

 Missing data

68

22.1

46

22.1

13

25.0

9

19.1

Comorbid conditions and health problems (> 10% prevalence)

PTSD

190

61.9

125

60.1

35

67.3

30

63.8

0.81

 Dyspnea

170

55.4

118

56.7

31

59.6

21

44.7

0.28

 Other sleep problems (Insomnia, restless legs syndrome, etc.)

107

34.9

78

37.5

15

28.8

14

29.8

0.38

 Hearing loss/tinnitus

101

32.9

65

31.3

24

46.2

12

25.5

0.07

 Axial pain

95

30.9

65

31.3

15

28.8

15

31.9

0.95

 Headache/migraine

91

29.6

58

27.9

19

36.5

14

29.8

0.65

 Depression

82

26.7

55

26.4

15

28.8

12

25.5

0.92

 Sleep apnea

81

26.4

48

23.1

20

38.5

13

27.7

0.08

 Fibromyalgia

78

25.4

50

24.0

18

34.6

10

21.3

0.24

 Irritable bowel syndrome

75

24.4

49

23.6

17

32.7

9

19.1

0.39

 Extremity pain

72

23.5

47

22.6

11

21.2

14

29.8

0.53

 Upper respiratory issues (Rhinitis, sinusitis, etc.)

70

22.8

48

23.1

12

23.1

10

21.3

0.98

 Traumatic brain injury

63

20.5

44

21.2

9

17.3

10

21.3

0.89

 Neuropathy

63

20.5

40

19.2

12

23.1

11

23.4

0.72

 Cognitive problems

61

19.9

35

16.8

16

30.8

10

21.3

0.08

 Fatigue

54

17.6

32

15.4

12

23.1

10

21.3

0.49

 Vitamin D deficiency

47

15.3

31

14.9

7

13.5

9

19.1

0.57

 Cough

42

13.7

28

13.5

10

19.2

4

8.5

0.31

 Asthma

41

13.4

32

15.4

6

11.5

3

6.4

0.27

 Gastroesophageal reflux disease

38

12.4

26

12.5

6

11.5

6

12.8

1.00

 Other pain

35

11.4

24

11.5

6

11.5

5

10.6

1.00

  1. *Due to non-normality, data are presented as median and interquartile range. **Self-reported cough, wheeze and/or dyspnea ≥ twice per week. ***To assess differences among blast groups, Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn test for post hoc multiple comparisons was used for continuous variables while Fisher’s exact test was used for categorical variables. BMI body mass index, PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder
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Respiratory Research

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