Table 1

Study Population by Patient Demographic Characteristics, All VHA Users in 2004


N (%)



All Users
Users with SR race/ethnicity
Users with SR and OR race/ethnicity

Total
4,814,175
1,890,649
988,277

Age



     < 55
1,321,901 (27.46)
517,268 (27.36)
251,083 (25.41)
     55 – 64
1,164,843 (24.20)
493,638 (26.11)
258,052 (26.11)
     65 – 74
1,067,405 (22.17)
409,489 (21.66)
219,427 (22.20)
     75 – 84
1,061,298 (22.05)
396,189 (20.96)
216,433 (21.90)
     85 and over
198,728 (4.13)
74,065 (3.92)
43,282 (4.38)

Sex



     Male
4,425,937 (91.94)
1,785,358 (94.43)
938,471 (94.96)
     Female
388,233 (8.06)
105,291 (5.57)
49,806 (5.04)
     Unknown
5 (0.00)



Region



     Northeast
768,974 (15.97)
300,152 (15.88)
156,537 (15.84)
     Midwest
1,070,858 (22.24)
417,123 (21.06)
219,503 (22.21)
     South
1,976,662 (41.06)
845,155 (44.70)
443,063 (44.83)
     West
997,679 (20.72)
328,217 (17.36)
169,174 (17.12)
     Unknown
2 (0.00)
2 (0.00)


Race, New Standards§



     White
1,497,743 (31.11)
1,497,743 (79.22)
769,661 (77.88)
     Black or African American
314,564 (6.53)
314,564 (16.64)
180,007 (18.21)
     AIAN
7,986 (0.17)
7,986 (0.42)
3,737 (0.38)
     Asian or Pacific Islander
31,310 (0.65)
31,310 (1.66)
14,262 (1.44)
     Multiracial
13,135 (0.27)
13,135 (0.69)
7,347 (0.74)
     By OB and PROXY
1,314 (0.03)


     Inconsistent
5,203 (0.11)


     Missing or Unknown
2,942,920 (61.13)



Ethnicity, New Standards



     Hispanic
100,727 (2.09)
100,727 (5.33)
57,085 (5.78)
     Non-Hispanic
1,743,996 (36.23)
1,577,729 (83.45)
815,150 (82.48)
     Unknown
2,969,452 (61.68)
212,193 (11.22)
116,042 (11.74)

* SR indicates self-reported; OR, observer-recorded; AIAN, American Indian or Alaska Native; OB, observation; PROXY, proxy report.

§The percentages in the last two columns do not add up to 100% due to those who identified themselves as Hispanic but did not report a valid race value.

Sohn et al. Population Health Metrics 2006 4:7   doi:10.1186/1478-7954-4-7