Risk factors for sarcoidosis hospitalization among US Navy and Marine Corps personnel, 1981 to 1995

Sarcoidosis has been associated with various demographic risk factors, yet findings may be falsely influenced by effects such as socioeconomic status. We used univariate and multiple logistic regression to compare demographic data from military sarcoidosis hospitalizations with similar data from the general military population from 1981 to 1995. A total of 626 first hospitalizations for sarcoidosis were identified. After adjusting for pay grade, blacks had seven-fold increased odds of sarcoidosis hospitalization compared with whites. The oldest age group had five times the odds of the youngest age group. A southeastern United States home of record was associated with increased risk. Multivariate modeling permitted us to determine independent risk factors for sarcoidosis hospitalization, in contrast to previous studies that focused mainly on unadjusted rates. These findings are useful in identifying populations at high risk for sarcoidosis.