Phillips Barbara R, Shahoumian Troy A, Backus Lisa I
Population Health Program, Office of Public Health, Veterans Health Administration, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304.
Mil Med. 2015 Nov;180(11):1161-9. doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00462.
We described differences in demographic and socioeconomic characteristics between Veterans enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Veterans eligible to enroll for Veterans Affairs health care. Knowledge of these differences is important in planning better services for Veterans who enroll and in encouraging additional enrollment.
We compared characteristics of enrollees and eligible Veterans in 2012. To describe enrollees, we used aggregate data from administrative records and results from VHA's Survey of Veteran Enrollees' Health and Reliance Upon VA. To describe eligible Veterans, we analyzed individual-level data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
Elderly individuals are more heavily represented among enrollees than eligible Veterans, and elderly enrollees are less likely to describe their health as good to excellent. Enrollees are more than twice as likely as eligible Veterans to have annual household incomes below $16,000. Representation of minorities is roughly the same among enrollees as eligible Veterans.
Our results are consistent with VHA as a safety net provider with respect to income, age, and disease burden.
我们描述了参加退伍军人健康管理局（VHA）的退伍军人与有资格注册获得退伍军人事务部医疗保健的退伍军人在人口统计学和社会经济特征方面的差异。了解这些差异对于为注册的退伍军人规划更好的服务以及鼓励更多人注册非常重要。
我们比较了2012年注册者和符合条件的退伍军人的特征。为了描述注册者，我们使用了行政记录中的汇总数据以及VHA的退伍军人注册者健康与对VA的依赖调查结果。为了描述符合条件的退伍军人，我们分析了行为风险因素监测系统的个体层面数据。
与符合条件的退伍军人相比，注册者中老年人的比例更高，而且老年注册者将自己的健康状况描述为良好至优秀的可能性较小。注册者家庭年收入低于16,000美元的可能性是符合条件的退伍军人的两倍多。少数群体在注册者中的占比与符合条件的退伍军人大致相同。
我们的结果与VHA作为收入、年龄和疾病负担方面的安全网提供者的情况一致。
