VA health care utilization and costs among male and female veterans in the year after service in Afghanistan and Iraq

Douglas L. Leslie, Joseph Goulet, Melissa Skanderson, Kristin Mattocks, Sally Haskell, Cynthia Brandt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the 1-year VA health care service use and costs between male and female Veterans returning from deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq.Using VA administrative data, measures of health care service use and costs were computedfor male and female veterans in the year after last deployment. Service use and cost measures included inpatient care, outpatient care, prescription drugs, and fee basis care. Unadjusted differences by gender were evaluated using chi-square and t -tests, and differences adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, education, branch of service, rank, and service-connected status were evaluated using generalized linear models with log links. Study findings indicated that although unadjusted total costs were higher for males than females, this difference did not remain after adjusting for covariates. However, adjusted inpatient costs were lower for women compared to those for men, and outpatient and pharmacy costswere higher.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)265-269
Number of pages5
JournalMilitary medicine
Volume176
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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