Baseline demographics among uninjured versus CRTI participants
| Uninjured vs CRTI | CRTI by NISS category | |||||
| Uninjured | CRTI | P value† | NISS <13 | NISS ≥13 | P value‡ | |
| Number | 565 | 579 | – | 288 | 291 | – |
| Age at sampling, years | 26.02±5.07 | 25.71±5.16 | 0.31 | 25.82±5.45 | 25.61±4.87 | 0.53 |
| Age at assessment, years | 34.24±5.41 | 34.01±5.35 | 0.49 | 34.49±5.48 | 33.54±5.18 | 0.08 |
| Time from deployment/injury to assessment, years | 8.2±2.15 | 8.33±2.14 | 0.36 | 8.70±2.08 | 7.96±2.15 | 0.0001§¶ |
| Still serving in military | 454 (80.4) | 159 (27.5) | <0.0001 | 110 (38.2) | 49 (16.8) | <0.0001 |
| Rank/NS-SEC (at sampling) | ||||||
| Senior rank (NS-SEC 1) | 79 (14.0) | 60 (10.4) | <0.001 | 28 (9.7) | 32 (11.0) | 0.20 |
| Mid-rank (NS-SEC 2) | 147 (26.0) | 106 (18.3) | 61 (21.2) | 45 (15.5) | ||
| Lower rank (NS-SEC 3) | 339 (60.0) | 413 (71.3) | 199 (69.1) | 214 (73.5) | ||
| Injury mechanism | 0.010 | |||||
| Blast | – | 435 (75.1) | – | 201 (69.8) | 234 (80.4) | |
| On-blast (accidents, gunshot, burns) | – | 144 (24.9) | – | 87 (30.2) | 57 (19.6) | |
| Injury type: limb amputation | – | 161 (27.8) | 17 (5.9) | 144 (49.5) | <0.0001 | |
| NISS, median (IQR) | – | 13.0 (5.0–30.0) | – | 5.0 (3.0–9.0) | 29.0 (20.0–45.0) | <0.0001 |
| Ethnicity: Caucasian | 512 (90.6) | 525 (90.6) | 1.0 | 259 (89.9) | 265 (91.1) | 0.75 |
| Family history of CVD* | 111 (19.6) | 106 (18.3) | 0.60 | 53 (18.4) | 53 (18.28) | 0.85 |
| Smoking history | 0.37 | |||||
| Current smoker | 126 (22.3) | 119 (20.6) | 66 (22.9) | 53 (18.2) | ||
| Ex-smoker | 178 (31.5) | 168 (29.0) | – | 84 (29.2) | 84 (28.9) | |
| Never | 261 (46.2) | 292 (50.4) | 0.36 | 138 (47.9) | 154 (52.9) | |
Data presented as mean±SD or number (%) unless otherwise stated.
*Defined as history of stroke of confirmed coronary heart disease in one or more first-degree relative.
†Tests the difference between CRTI and uninjured.
‡Tests the difference between uninjured (where applicable), NISS <13 and NISS ≥13.
§Significant (p<0.05) post-hoc differences: uninjured vs NISS <13.
¶Significant (p<0.05) post-hoc differences: NISS <13 vs NISS ≥13.
CRTI, combat-related traumatic injury; CVD, cardiovascular disease; NISS, New Injury Severity Score; NS-SEC, National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification.