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Soo Park, MD
Soo Park, MD
Posted: Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Veterans appear to have a higher prevalence and odds of diagnosis of and history of various dermatologic conditions, including skin cancer, compared with nonveterans, among three skin cancer subcategories. Eleni Linos, MD, MPH, DrPH, of Stanford University School of Medicine, California, and colleagues recommended that an understanding of the prevalence of various dermatologic conditions among veterans may help to inform public health measures aimed at improving prevention in this patient population. These findings were published in JAMA Dermatology.
This population-based cross-sectional study used nationally representative data on veterans and nonveterans from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Three questionnaires (demographics, medical conditions, and dermatology) were merged from 1999 to 2018 for analysis, and data were analyzed from August 2023 to April 2024.
A total of 61,307 participants were included in the study. Of them, 54,554 were nonveterans, and 6,753 were veterans. There was a higher prevalence of skin cancer history among U.S. veterans compared with nonveterans (9.0% vs 2.9%; P < .001), as well as a higher prevalence of melanoma history (2.2% vs 0.6%; P < .001). Veterans had higher odds of having a history of skin cancer and higher odds of having a history of melanoma than did nonveterans. In addition, veterans were found to have a higher prevalence of receiving a diagnosis of psoriasis compared with nonveterans (4.5% vs 2.9%; P = .002). However, veterans did not seem to have a higher risk of developing eczema, dermatitis, or an inflamed rash in the past 30 days anywhere on the body compared with nonveterans. But veterans did have a statistically significant increased odds of having a dermatologic condition localized to the arms (P < .10) or torso (P < .10) when compared with their nonveteran counterparts.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
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