title: Eligible veterans' choice between VA-covered and non-VA-covered dental care.
abstract: Veterans who were eligible for dental care in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities at no monetary cost responded to a mailed questionnaire. Seventy-one percent were aware that they were actually eligible for VA dental care. However, only 48 percent reported the VA as their only or primary source of dental care. Eligibility status, perceived quality of VA dental care, use of VA medical care, perception that one's income meets expenses, and perceived need for dental care were significant correlates of using the VA as one's current source of dental care. Level of formal education, perception that one's income meets expenses, transportation pattern, geographic distance from a VA facility, and eligibility status were significant correlates of using the VA as one's current medical care source. Research on VA utilization offers the opportunity to study issues of access to, and use of, a large public health care system whose patients largely receive care at no monetary cost. Veterans' use of VA dental and medical care is apparently influenced by a wide variety of factors, ranging from barriers to access to non-VA systems, to characteristics of the VA delivery system itself, to need for treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Claude D. Pepper Center for Research on Oral Health in Aging, College of Dentistry, University of Florida Health Science Center, Gainesville 32610-0416.
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Branch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Longmate
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003729:Dental Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007347:Insurance, Dental; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D011331:Private Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014187:Transportation of Patients; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans