title: Health status in VA patients: results from the Veterans Health Study.
abstract: Recently, the Veterans Administration (VA) Under Secretary for Health has designated functional status as one of the domains of value for the system, given its increasing importance for clinical care. The Veterans Health Study (VHS) was designed to assist the VA in monitoring outcomes and measuring the case mix of patients who use the VA. The Veterans SF-36 (short form functional status assessment for veterans) was administered to 2425 veterans receiving ambulatory care. Measures of the Veterans SF-36 were strongly correlated with sociodemographics and morbidities of the veterans. Young veterans had poorer mental health status than older veterans. Veterans who used ambulatory care in the VHS reported lower levels of health status, reflecting more disease than a non-VA civilian population. These measures of health are important indicators of the disease burden or case mix of the patients and are pertinent to health systems such as the VA for resource allocation decisions and as outcomes of care.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economic Research, VA Health Services Research and Development Field Program, Bedford, MA 01730, USA.
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Kazis
authors.forename: X S
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001900:Boston; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*