Construction of the Chinese Veteran Clinical Research (CVCR) platform for the assessment of non-communicable diseases.
BACKGROUND
Based on the excellent medical care and management system for Chinese veterans, as well as the detailed medical documentation available, we aim to construct a Chinese Veteran Clinical Research (CVCR) platform on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and carry out studies of the primary disabling NCDs.


METHODS
The Geriatric Neurology Department of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital and veterans' hospitals serve as the leading and participating units in the platform construction. The fundamental constituents of the platform are veteran communities. Stratified typical cluster sampling is adopted to recruit veteran communities. A cross-sectional study of mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders are performed in two stages using screening scale such as the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal cognitive assessment, followed by systematic neuropsychological assessments to make clinical diagnoses, evaluated disease awareness and care situation.


RESULTS
A total of 9 676 among 277 veteran communities from 18 cities are recruited into this platform, yielding a response rate of 83.86%. 8 812 subjects complete the MNS subproject screening and total response rate is 91.70%. The average participant age is (82.01±4.61) years, 69.47% of veterans are 80 years or older. Most participants are male (94.01%), 83.36% of subjects have at least a junior high school degree. The overall health status of veterans is good and stable. The most common NCD are cardiovascular disorders (86.44%), urinary and genital diseases (73.14%), eye and ear problems (66.25%), endocrine (56.56%) and neuro-psychiatric disturbances (50.78%).


CONCLUSIONS
We first construct a veterans' comprehensive clinical research platform for the study of NCDs that is primarily composed of highly educated Chinese males of advanced age and utilize this platform to complete a cross-sectional national investigation of MNS disorders among veterans. The good and stable health condition of the veterans could facilitate the long-term follow-up studies of NCDs and provide prospective data to the prevention and management of NCDs.
Department of Geriatric Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Jiping
J
Tan
Research Center of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China.
Nan
N
Li
Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, China.
Jing
J
Gao
Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health of the General Logistics Department of PLA, Beijing 100038, China.
Yuhe
Y
Guo
Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health of the General Logistics Department of PLA, Beijing 100038, China.
Wei
W
Hu
Department of Neurology, General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Command, Lanzhou, Gansu 730050, China.
Jinsheng
J
Yang
Department of Gerontology, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050082, China.
Baocheng
B
Yu
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 107 Hospital, Yantai, Shandong 264002, China.
Jianmin
J
Yu
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 201 Hospital, Dalian, Liaoning 116021, China.
Wei
W
Du
Department of Gerontology, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai 200433, China.
Wenjun
W
Zhang
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 401 Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China.
Lianqi
L
Cui
Department of Neurology, General Hospital of Chengdu Military Command, Chengdu, Sichuan 610083, China.
Qingsong
Q
Wang
First Cadre Department, Fuzhou General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Fuzhou, Fujian 350025, China.
Xiangnan
X
Xia
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 323 Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710054, China.
Jianjun
J
Li
Forth Cadre Department, General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510010, China.
Peiyi
P
Zhou
Cadre Department, Navy General Hospital, Beijing 10048, China.
Baohe
B
Zhang
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 264 Hospital, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China.
Zhiying
Z
Liu
Third Cadre Department, Chinese People's Liberation Army 254 Hospital, Tianjin 300142, China.
Shaogang
S
Zhang
Third Internal Medicine Department, Chinese People's Liberation Army 44 Hospital, Guiyang, Guizhou 550009, China.
Lanying
L
Sun
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 451 Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710054, China.
Nan
N
Liu
Cadre Department, Chinese People's Liberation Army 252 Hospital, Baoding, Hebei 071000, China.
Ruixiang
R
Deng
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 253 Hospital, Huhhot, Inner Mongolia 010050, China.
Wenguang
W
Dai
Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army 211 Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150080, China.
Fang
F
Yi
Department of Neurology, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
Wenjun
W
Chen
Cadre Department, General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, Beijing 100039, China.
Yongqing
Y
Zhang
Cadre Department, General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong 250000, China.
Shenwu
S
Xue
Department of Geriatric Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Bo
B
Cui
Research Center of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China.
Yiming
Y
Zhao
Department of Geriatric Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China. Email: wln1947@163.com.
Luning
L
Wang
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004194:Disease; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*