Have you completed your Millennium Cohort survey yet?
Department of Defense
Deployment Health Research Department
c/o Naval Health Research Center
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Subject ID: XXXXXX Mail ID: XXXXXX-XXXXXX
It looks like you have not yet had the chance to complete your Millennium Cohort
Study survey. The information you can provide from your personal experiences is
incredibly valuable. This is the largest study in history assessing health and wellness,
chronic illness and other physical and emotional issues affecting current and former
military members. We ask that you please complete this cycle’s survey at your earliest
opportunity by visiting our website at www.millenniumcohort.org and clicking on Start
Survey.
Your Subject ID can be found under the barcode above.
Very respectfully,
Rudy Rull, PhD, MPH
On behalf of the Millennium Cohort Study Team
Primary Intuitional Review Board Protocol Naval Health Research Center.2000.0007
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Sample Name
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Department of Defense
Deployment Health Research Department
c/o Naval Health Research Center
PO Box 85777
San Diego, CA 92186-5777
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY - DO NOT MARK
Subject ID: XXXXXX Mail ID: XXXXXX-XXXXXX
Have You Submitted Your Follow-Up Survey?
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In appreciation
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barcode above.
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Name
one of several popular vendors (Amazon, Starbucks, Subway, or Walmart), orSample
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In appreciation of your time, you will have the opportunity to select a
Any Street
Millennium Cohort hat upon completion.
$5 gift card to one of several popular vendors (Amazon, Starbucks,
Any Street 2
Subway, or Walmart), or a Millennium Cohort hat upon completion.
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MILLENNIUM COHORT STUDY
Committed to Understanding Service Member and Veteran Health
*******************AUTO
Sample Name
Any Street
Any Street 2
Any City, State Zip_Code
Dear ,
You are one of 200,000 current and former service members who completed an important DoD
survey (the Millennium Cohort Study) aimed at understanding the possible effects of military service
on long-term health. The last questionnaire you completed for the study was in .
We understand that your free time is limited, but it’s only because of these occasional follow-up
questionnaires that we are able to understand how health circumstances change over time. Even
in the short period since the beginning of this project, we have been able to observe changes in
health-related situations and the reasons for these changes.
We hope you will continue to share your experiences by completing the newest version of the survey.
Please visit our website at www.millenniumcohort.org. Click on Start Survey, and enter your Subject
ID: . The survey should take approximately 45 minutes to complete.
As the current Millennium Cohort survey cycle comes to a close, I thought you might appreciate
knowing about some of the results from this project. The enclosed summary on the back of this letter
provides just a few of the results and how they are being used.
We hope you’ll find these results of interest. More research findings will be posted to our website,
www.millenniumcohort.org, as analyses are released and used.
Thank you for your continued support to help the U.S. military provide the best medical care to
current, former, and future members of the military through your participation in this critical study.
Very respectfully,
Rudy Rull, PhD, MPH
Principal Investigator
For the Millennium Cohort Study Team
DoD Center for Deployment Health Research
For any questions, please contact the Millennium Cohort Team at DoD.milcohortinfo@mail.mil or call toll-free 1-888-942-5222
or DSN 553-7465 and reference your Subject ID: .
The Millennium Cohort Study is an authorized Department of Defense project. Note Report Control Symbol # DD-NAVY-2678,
Office of Management and Budget Approval # 0703-0064, and Primary Institutional Review Board Protocol # NHRC.2000.0007.
DEPLOYMENT HEALTH RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
P.O. BOX 85777 • SAN DIEGO, CA 92186-5777 • DSN: 553-7465 • PHONE: 888-942-5222 • MILLENNIUMCOHORT.ORG
FEATURED RESEARCH
The Millennium Cohort Study is the largest and longest running health study of United States military
personnel. Data from our participants have helped inform policy focusing on military readiness and
protecting the health of military personnel and Veterans. As we look forward to the next 50 years of
the study, we are optimistic in our ability to drive data-informed DoD and VA policy that is relevant to
current and former service members and can improve wellbeing and quality of life during and after service.
Physical Activity and Health Behaviors
Mirroring national data, our research showed that high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary
heart disease, and sleep apnea were more common among participants who were obese
compared to those who were not1. The great news is that obesity is preventable through
lifestyle modification. Lifestyle modification refers to adopting “health behaviors” such as
increasing physical activity, decreasing prolonged sitting “sedentary” time, maintaining a
healthy diet, having good quality and the optimal level of sleep, avoiding binge drinking or
“at risk” alcohol use, and refraining from tobacco use.
Participants engaging in more "healthy behaviors" were less likely to become overweight or
2
obese 6 years later with a reduced risk of overweight/obesity by 36% .
Sleep and Tobacco Use Research: Active Duty Personnel
Participants with pre-deployment insomnia symptoms and combat-related trauma were
more likely to develop posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety following
3
deployment at 3-year follow-up .
Our research indicated that military deployment was associated with smoking and
4,5
smokeless tobacco initiation among non-users . Additionally, military deployment,
prolonged deployments, multiple deployments, and combat exposures were strongly related
4
to smoking relapse among people who have previously quit smoking .
Alcohol Use Research: Reserve/National Guard Personnel
We followed Reserve/Guard participants from their first survey for 3-12 years afterwards,
to look at patterns of continued unhealthy alcohol use [defined as heavy weekly, heavy
6
episodic, and problem drinking (i.e. consequences related to drinking too much)] . Our
findings showed that among those who were unhealthy alcohol users at the time of their first
survey, 70% continued unhealthy use at their follow-up surveys (suggestive of chronic use).
1. Rush T, LeardMann CA, Crum-Cianflone NF. Obesity and associated adverse health outcomes among US military members: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. Obesity. 2016 Jul;24(7):1S82-1S89
2. Bookwalter, D.B., Porter, B., Jacobson, I.G., Kong, S. Y., Littman, A. J., Rull, R. P., Boyko, E. J. Healthy behaviors and incidence of overweight and obesity in military veterans. An of Epi (in press).
3. Gehrman P, Seelig AD, Jacobson IG, Boyko EJ, Hooper TI, Gackstetter GD, Ulmer CS, Smith TC. Predeployment Sleep Duration and Insomnia Symptoms as Risk Factors for New-Onset Mental Health Disorders Following
Military Deployment. Sleep. 2013 Jul 1;36(7):1009-18.
4. Hermes ED, Wells TS, Smith B, et al. Smokeless tobacco use related to military deployment, cigarettes and mental health symptoms in a large, prospective cohort study among US service members. Addiction.
2012;107(5):983–994. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03737.x
5. Smith B, Ryan MA, Wingard DL, et al. Cigarette smoking and military deployment: a prospective evaluation. Am J Prev Med. 2008;35(6):539–546. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2008.07.009
6. Jacobson IG, Williams EC, Seelig AD, Littman AJ, Maynard CC, Bricker JB, Rull RR, Boyko EJ, for the Millennium Cohort Study Team. Longitudinal Investigation of Military-Specific Factors Associated with Continued
Unhealthy Alcohol Use Among a Large US Military Cohort. J Addict Med (in press).
MILLENNIUM COHORT STUDY
Committed to Understanding Service Member and Veteran Health
<1234 Street Address>
Dear ,
I am writing this letter to thank you for being a valued Millennium Cohort Study participant since
. The Millennium Cohort Study began over two decades ago to follow people over many
years to provide information about the possible long-term health consequences of military
service.
To help us improve the study, we'd like to ask you a few questions about how you feel about
the project. It should only take you 8 minutes to complete this survey. If you would prefer to
complete it on-line, simply visit our website at to get started. Your Subject ID is
.
It is really important that we hear from you. With your feedback, we will have a better
understanding of how service members and Veterans feel about this study and what we can do
to make it more successful.
Very sincerely,
Rudy Rull, PhD, MPH
On behalf of the Millennium Cohort Study Team
For any questions, please contact the Millennium Cohort Team at dod.milcohortinfo@mail.mil or
call toll free 1-888-942-5222 or DSN 553-7465, and reference your Subject ID:
The Millennium Cohort Study is an authorized Department of Defense project. Note Report
Control Symbol # DD-HA(AR)2106, Office of Management and Budget Approval # 0720-0029,
and Primary Institutional Review Board Protocol # NHRC.2000.0007.
DEPLOYMENT HEALTH RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
P.O. BOX 85777 • SAN DIEGO, CA 92186-5777 • DSN: 553-7465 • PHONE: 888-942-5222 • MILLENNIUMCOHORT.ORG
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