The National Health Study for a New Generation of United States Veterans: Methods for a Large-Scale Study on the Health of Recent Veterans

Authors:
  • SBShannon Barth
    Shannon Barth
  • HKHan Kang
    Han Kang
  • CMClare Mahan
    Clare Mahan
  • EDErin Dursa
    Erin Dursa
  • ASAaron Schneiderman
    Aaron Schneiderman
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Abstract
This article describes the methodology used in the "National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans," a large-scale longitudinal study of the health of 30,000 Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) veterans, and 30,000 veterans who were not deployed to these conflicts. Veterans could participate by mail, online, or through a computer-assisted telephone interview. A medical records review was also conducted to validate responses to the survey. The response rate was 34.3%, with 20,563 surveys accepted. This study underscores the complexity of sampling and studying this population of recent veterans.