title: Trends in rates and attributable costs of conditions among female VA patients, 2000 and 2008.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined rates of specific health conditions among female veteran patients and how the share of health care costs attributable to these conditions changed in the Veterans Affairs system between 2000 and 2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  Veterans' Administration (VA)-provided and VA-sponsored inpatient, outpatient, and pharmacy utilization and cost files were analyzed for women veterans receiving care in 2000 and 2008. We estimated rates of 42 common health conditions and per-patient condition costs from a regression model and calculated the total population costs attributable to each condition and changes by year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of female VA patients increased from 156,305 in 2000 to 266,978 in 2008; 88% were under 65 years of age. The rate of women treated for specific conditions increased substantially for many gender-specific and psychiatric conditions: For example, pregnancy increased 133%, diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder increased 106%, and diagnosed depression increased 41%. Mean costs of care increased from $4,962 per woman in 2000 to $6,570 per woman in 2008. Psychiatric conditions accounted for more than one quarter of population health care costs in 2008. Gender-specific conditions and musculoskeletal diseases accounted for a rising share of population costs and rose to 8.2% and 8.7% of population costs in 2008, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gender-specific, cancer, musculoskeletal, and mental health and substance use disorders accounted for a greater share of overall costs during the study period and were primarily driven by higher rates of diagnosed conditions and, for several conditions, higher treatment costs.
authors.affiliation: Health Economics Resource Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA. jean.yoon@va.gov
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Jennifer Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Ciaran S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Phibbs
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Frayne
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000191:economics*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000639:trends*; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans