title: Disparities in health behaviors and chronic conditions in health care providers in the Veterans Health Administration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine baseline prevalence of health behaviors and chronic health conditions in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employees and highlight disparities by occupation group.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 29,834 responses to the survey. Age-standardized prevalence estimates for VHA employees were compared to national estimates from BRFSS surveys. The VHA estimates were analyzed for physicians and dentists; physician assistants and nurse practitioners; registered nurses; licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants; other clinical; nonclinical; and wage grade staff. Multilevel regression explored the effect of worksite.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The VHA employees have higher rates of unhealthy behaviors and chronic health conditions than US adults, except for smoking. Results illustrated significant disparities between occupation groups by demographics and variability by worksite.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Veterans Health Administration's population appears less healthy than the US general population. Disparities between occupation groups support the establishment of targeted health promotion programs, with attention paid to differences in local culture.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Health Administration, Office of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA. tamara.schult@va.gov
authors.forename: Tamara M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Schult
authors.forename: Ebi R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Awosika
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dyrenforth
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001168:Arthritis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006293:Health Promotion; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace; D055815:Young Adult