Prevalence of substance misuse among US veterans in the general population.

Background And Objectives: Epidemiologic data on substance misuse prevalence among US Veterans are crucial to plan for Veterans' future healthcare needs. We estimated US Veterans' age-specific, overall, and age-adjusted prevalence of substance misuse, assessed whether prevalence differed between Veterans and civilians, and examined temporal trends in prevalence.

Methods: Substance-related measures were obtained from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2002-2012 (N = 24,210 Veterans; 338,556 civilians).