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Garcia-Davis S, Tyagi P, Bouldin ED, Hansen J, Brintz BJ, Noel P, Rupper R, Trivedi R, Kinosian B, Intrator O, Pugh MJ, Leykum LK, Dang S. Sex differences in unmet needs between male and female older veterans. J Women Aging 2024:1-16. [PMID: 38976516 DOI: 10.1080/08952841.2024.2375480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Aging Veterans face complex needs across multiple domains. However, the needs of older female Veterans and the degree to which unmet needs differ by sex are unknown. We analyzed responses to the HERO CARE survey from 7,955 Veterans aged 55 years and older (weighted N = 490,148), 93.9% males and 6.1% females. We evaluated needs and unmet needs across the following domains: activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental ADLs (IADLs), health management, and social. We calculated weighted estimates and compared sex differences using age-adjusted prevalence ratios. On average, female Veterans were younger, more were Non-Hispanic Black and unmarried. Females and males reported a similar prevalence of problems across all domains. However, compared to males, female Veterans had a lesser prevalence of missed appointments due to transportation (aPR 0.49; 95% CI: 0.26-0.92), housework unmet needs (aPR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.20-0.97), and medication management unmet needs (aPR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.11-0.95) but a higher prevalence of healthcare communication unmet needs (aPR: 2.40; 95% CI: 1.13-5.05) and monitoring health conditions unmet needs (aPR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.08-4.20). Female Veterans' common experience of unmet needs in communicating with their healthcare teams could result in care that is less aligned with their preferences or needs. As the number of older female Veterans grows, these data and additional work to understand sex-specific unmet needs and ways to address them are essential to providing high-quality care for female Veterans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Garcia-Davis
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Pranjal Tyagi
- South Florida Veterans Affairs Foundation for Research and Education (SFVAFRE), Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Erin D Bouldin
- Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center (IDEAS 2.0), VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Jared Hansen
- Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center (IDEAS 2.0), VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
- Division of Epidemiology, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Ben J Brintz
- Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center (IDEAS 2.0), VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- Division of Epidemiology, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Polly Noel
- South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Randall Rupper
- Department of Internal Medicine, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
- Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Ranak Trivedi
- Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
- Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA
- Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Bruce Kinosian
- Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Orna Intrator
- Canandaigua VA Medical Center Geriatrics and Extended Care Data Analysis Center (GECDAC), Canandaigua, New York, USA
| | - Mary Jo Pugh
- Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center (IDEAS 2.0), VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Luci K Leykum
- Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
- South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Harbor Health, Austin, Texas, USA
- Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Stuti Dang
- Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
- Miami Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), Miami, Florida, USA
- Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA
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Silvestrini M, Nicosia F, Spar MJ, Gibson CJ, Brown RT. "We Have a Long Way to Go:" A Case Study Examination of Older Women Veterans' Experiences in VA Primary Care. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing 2020; 57:46958020931311. [PMID: 32525421 PMCID: PMC7290258 DOI: 10.1177/0046958020931311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Women Veterans are a growing population with complex care needs. While previous research has examined the experiences of women Veterans, little attention has been paid to the specific experiences of older women Veterans. These case studies present the experiences of 2 older women Veterans who have been enrolled in Veterans Affairs (VA) health care for several decades. Results suggest that these older women Veterans have faced gender-specific challenges and barriers throughout their time accessing VA care. The experiences of these participants suggest that they have gender-sensitive needs that are not always addressed by VA primary care and that women’s groups are important mechanisms by which they have gained psychological support in a gender-sensitive environment. These cases suggest that access to gender-sensitive services and women-centered spaces are important for these 2 older women Veterans and should be explored in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly Silvestrini
- San Francisco VA Health Care System, CA, USA.,University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Francesca Nicosia
- San Francisco VA Health Care System, CA, USA.,University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Malena J Spar
- San Francisco VA Health Care System, CA, USA.,University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Carolyn J Gibson
- San Francisco VA Health Care System, CA, USA.,University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Rebecca T Brown
- San Francisco VA Health Care System, CA, USA.,University of California, San Francisco, USA.,Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA.,Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
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4
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Goldstein KM, Bastian LA, Duan-Porter W, Gray KE, Hoggatt KJ, Kelly MM, Wilson SM, Humphreys K, Klap R, Yano EM, Huang GD. Accelerating the Growth of Evidence-Based Care for Women and Men Veterans. Womens Health Issues 2019; 29 Suppl 1:S2-S5. [PMID: 31253238 DOI: 10.1016/j.whi.2019.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Karen M Goldstein
- Durham Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
| | - Lori A Bastian
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut; Department of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Wei Duan-Porter
- Center for Care Delivery & Outcomes Research, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, Minnesota; University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - Kristen E Gray
- Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Seattle, Washington; Department of Health Services, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington
| | - Katherine J Hoggatt
- VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy, VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, North Hills, California; Department of Epidemiology, University of California Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California
| | - Megan M Kelly
- VA New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Bedford, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, North Worcester, Massachusetts
| | - Sarah M Wilson
- Durham Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Keith Humphreys
- VA HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California
| | - Ruth Klap
- VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy, VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, North Hills, California; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Elizabeth M Yano
- VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy, VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, North Hills, California; Department of Health Policy & Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Grant D Huang
- VA Office of Research and Development, Washington, District of Columbia
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Gonsoulin ME, Durazo-Arvizu RA, Goldstein KM, Cao G, Zhang Q, Ramanathan D, Hynes DM. A Health Profile of Senior-Aged Women Veterans: A Latent Class Analysis of Condition Clusters. Innov Aging 2017; 1. [PMID: 29202104 PMCID: PMC5710757 DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igx024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and Objectives This study characterizes the multiple morbidities experienced by senior-aged women Veterans so that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and other health care systems may be better prepared to meet the health care needs of this growing cohort. Research Design and Methods Using the VHA’s Corporate Data Warehouse, we conducted a retrospective observational study of the 38,597 female veteran patients who were at least 65 years old and received care in the VHA during 2013 and 2014. We use a latent class analysis model to cluster diagnoses associated with inpatient and outpatient events over the years. Results The senior-aged women Veterans are characterized by six major classes of disease clusters. We defined these classes as: Healthy (16.24% of the cohort); Ophthalmological Disorders (13.84%); Musculoskeletal Disorders (14.22%); At Risk for Cardiovascular Disease (37.53%); Diabetic with Comorbidities (9.05%); and Multimorbid (9.12%). The patterns and prevalence of these condition classes vary by race, age, and marital status. Discussion and Implications Each of the six clusters can be used to develop clinical practice guidelines that are appropriate for senior-aged women Veterans. Consistent with past literature, the most common conditions in this cohort are hypertension and hyperlipidemia; together they form the most common class, “At Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)”. Results also show evidence of race-related disparities, with Blacks being more likely to be in the highest risk classes. Also, members of the cohort who are currently married having improved chances of being in the healthy class. And finally, we see a “healthy survivor” effect with the oldest women in our cohort having low overall rates of disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret E Gonsoulin
- VA Information Resource Center, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, US Department of Veterans Affairs Hines, Illinois
| | - Ramon A Durazo-Arvizu
- Public Health Services, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois
| | - Karen M Goldstein
- Durham VA Medical Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, North Carolina.,Duke University School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
| | - Guichan Cao
- VA Information Resource Center, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, US Department of Veterans Affairs Hines, Illinois.,Public Health Services, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois
| | - Qiuying Zhang
- VA Information Resource Center, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, US Department of Veterans Affairs Hines, Illinois
| | - Dharani Ramanathan
- VA Information Resource Center, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, US Department of Veterans Affairs Hines, Illinois
| | - Denise M Hynes
- VA Information Resource Center, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, US Department of Veterans Affairs Hines, Illinois.,Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare, Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Hines, IL.,Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Department of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois
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