OBJECTIVE: Health care access may be a significant contributor to health outcome. However, few data exist on perception of barriers by patients in treatment, and attending a clinic visit does not mean that no barriers exist. Understanding barriers for treated populations is particularly important in optimizing care for high vulnerability populations, such as those with […]
Abstract Topics: Veterans
Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health problems, and barriers to care.
BACKGROUND: The current combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have involved U.S. military personnel in major ground combat and hazardous security duty. Studies are needed to systematically assess the mental health of members of the armed services who have participated in these operations and to inform policy with regard to the optimal delivery of mental […]
PTSD symptoms, demographic characteristics, and functional status among veterans treated in VA primary care clinics.
We hypothesized that PTSD symptomatology would have an inverse relationship with functional status and would vary as a function of sociodemographic variables. Primary care patients (N = 513) at two VA Medical Centers were randomly selected and recruited to participate. After adjustment for other demographic variables, PTSD symptom levels were significantly related to age (younger […]
Burden of medical illness in women with depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.
BACKGROUND: Depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are important women’s health issues. Depression is known to be associated with poor physical health; however, associations between physical health and PTSD, a common comorbidity of depression, have received less attention. OBJECTIVES: To examine number of medical symptoms and physical health status in women with PTSD across age […]
Veterans seeking disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder: who applies and the self-reported meaning of disability compensation.
Assumptions about the characteristics and motivations of individuals pursuing disability status are well known. However, policy, programming and interventions need to be based on information about the actual sociodemographic characteristics of disabled individuals, as well as their goals in seeking disability status. In this study, we focus on veterans seeking disability compensation for post-traumatic stress […]
Use of psychiatric and medical health care by veterans with severe mental illness.
Risk behaviors and health care use among 396 initially hospitalized veterans with severe mental illnesses were examined. Health care use was abstracted from Veterans Affairs databases (March 1998 to June 2000) for one year after hospital discharge. Lifetime intravenous drug use was related to increased use of outpatient services, and current alcohol use was related […]
Preliminary assessment of a prototype advanced mobility device in the work environment of veterans with spinal cord injury.
The INDEPENDENCE 3000 IBOT Transporter (IBOT) is an electronically stabilizing device for people with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to collect qualitative data on the potential for the IBOT to improve employment satisfaction of veterans who use wheelchairs to work. This study was based upon observations by trained clinicians, and responses to a […]
Death anxiety as a predictor of posttraumatic stress levels among individuals with spinal cord injuries.
Because the onset of a spinal cord injury may involve a brush with death and because serious injury and disability can act as a reminder of death, death anxiety was examined as a predictor of posttraumatic stress levels among individuals with disabilities. This cross-sectional study used multiple regression and multivariate multiple regression to examine whether […]
Upper limb pain in a national sample of veterans with paraplegia.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this survey study was to examine the prevalence and intensity of pain and associated patient characteristics in a national sample of veterans with paraplegia. Of particular interest were upper limb (UL) pain conditions, which pose unique challenges to individuals who use a wheelchair for mobility. Because the risk for […]
Gender Differences in service connection for PTSD.
BACKGROUND: Mentally ill female veterans obtain a smaller proportion of their care from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities than mentally ill male veterans do, possibly because women are less likely than men to be service connected for psychiatric disabilities. “Service connected” veterans have documented, compensative conditions related to or aggravated by military service, and […]