title: The focus on women veterans who use Veterans Administration health care: the Veterans Administration Women's Health Project.
abstract: Women have served in every war and conflict in our history, but the effects of military duty on women are largely unknown. This article discusses the history of women in the military and presents findings from the Veterans Administration Women's Health Project. This study was designed to describe the health-related quality of life of women veterans who receive Veterans Administration ambulatory care. We assessed health status using the Short Form 36, an easily administered 36-item health survey that has been widely used and that has been shown to be reliable and valid. We compared Short Form 36 scores between veteran and nonveteran women. The results indicate that veteran women score lower on every scale compared with nonveteran women.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economic Research, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bedford, MA, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Furey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D016387:Women's Health