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Post-9/11 Vet: Respiratory Diseases

Post-9/11 Vet. Information for veterans who served in operations enduring freedom, iraqi freedom, and new dawn

respiratory snapshot

Text version of infographic

Respiratory diseases among deployed Veterans versus non-deployed Veterans.

A 2009 - 2011 population-based health survey of 60,000 Veterans asked about the history of doctor-diagnosed respiratory disease. Analyses included smoking history, deployment status, and year of diagnosis. If you have health concerns, contact your health care provider.

Sinusitis findings show that deployed Veterans were 29% more likely to have been diagnosed with sinusitis during and after 2001 compared to non-deployed Veterans. For asthma and bronchitis, the study found no significant difference in asthma or bronchitis risk between deployed and non-deployed Veterans.

Percentages were as follows:

  • Asthma: 3.4% of non-deployed, 3.3% of deployed
  • Bronchitis: 5.3% of non-deployed, 5.9% of deployed
  • Sinusitis: 5.6% of non-deployed, 6.9% of deployed

Sinusitis: sinus infection, asthma: breathing disease, bronchitis: swelling of tubes leading to lungs

Barth, SK, Dursa, EK, Peterson, MR, Schneiderman A. Prevalence of Respiratory Diseases Among Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom: Results From the National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans. Mil Med 2014; 179: 241-245.