Table 1.
Characteristics of Veterans in the Survey of Healthcare Experience of Patients (SHEP) Survey Administered to Community Care Recipients, 2016–2021
| Hispanic ethnicity b | Race b | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic a | Hispanic ethnicity n = 16,490 Weighted sample = 1,419,630 c |
Not Hispanic ethnicity n = 200,725 Weighted sample = 13,851,118 c |
Black or African American n = 24,306 Weighted sample = 2,027,820 c |
White n = 180,313 Weighted sample = 12,183,563 c |
| Demographics | ||||
| Age, mean [SD] in years d | 54.6 [15.9] | 61.2 [15.1] | 56.5 [12.9] | 62.0 [15.4] |
| Gender d | ||||
| Female | 1396 (14.7%) | 17,005 (13.2%) | 4029 (22.5%) | 12,720 (11.4%) |
| Male | 15,094 (85.3%) | 183,720 (86.8%) | 20,277 (77.5%) | 167,593 (88.6%) |
| Health status | ||||
| Elixhauser comorbidities e | ||||
| < 3 conditions | 10,054 (69.2%) | 123,545 (66.9%) | 13,866 (64.4%) | 111,154 (66.9%) |
| 3 to 4 conditions | 4163 (20.9%) | 49,696 (21.8%) | 6740 (24.0%) | 44,346 (21.7%) |
| > 5 conditions | 2273 (9.9%) | 27,484 (11.3%) | 3700 (11.6%) | 24,813 (11.4%) |
| Substance use disorder f | 1201 (8.0%) | 12,608 (6.7%) | 2309 (8.6%) | 10,521 (6.4%) |
| Serious mental illness g | 5835 (40.0%) | 52,634 (30.1%) | 8594 (38.3%) | 45,238 (29.0%) |
| Education, insurance, and socioeconomic status (SES) | ||||
| Education | ||||
| Less than high school | 1067 (3.3%) | 10,567 (3.6%) | 991 (2.6%) | 10,752 (4.1%) |
| High school | 4217 (19.7%) | 57,580 (24.5%) | 6106 (20.5%) | 53,744 (25.7%) |
| College or more | 11,131 (76.6%) | 131,925 (71.6%) | 17,100 (76.5%) | 115,165 (69.9%) |
| Missing | 75 (0.4%) | 653 (0.3%) | 109 (0.4%) | 652 (0.3%) |
| VA priority group status h | ||||
| Groups 1–4 | 12,141 (79.4%) | 125,203 (69.2%) | 17,788 (78.3%) | 109,733 (67.6%) |
| Group 5 | 2688 (12.1%) | 41,533 (16.7%) | 4,300 (13.7%) | 38,306 (17.3%) |
| Groups 6–8 or missing | 1661 (8.5%) | 33,989 (14.1%) | 2218 (8.0%) | 32,274 (15.1%) |
| Enrolled in Medicaid i | 1236 (8.1%) | 12,437 (6.8%) | 2238 (9.5%) | 10,452 (6.3%) |
| Enrolled in Medicare i | 11,572 (46.1%) | 160,232 (61.4%) | 15,871 (47.0%) | 147,838 (63.8%) |
| Enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan j | 3729 (14.1%) | 46,107 (17.4%) | 4105 (12.0%) | 43,949 (18.8%) |
| Enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan | 3103 (11.5%) | 38,025 (14.5%) | 3146 (9.4%) | 36,870 (15.9%) |
| Geography | ||||
| Urbanicity l | ||||
| Large metropolitan area | 4478 (33.3%) | 44,989 (24.8%) | 9136 (39.6%) | 36,905 (22.5%) |
| Small metropolitan area | 7778 (43.4%) | 56,013 (29.1%) | 8009 (33.0%) | 51,083 (29.5%) |
| Micropolitan area | 2268 (14.2%) | 47,101 (22.3%) | 4040 (16.0%) | 42,848 (22.9%) |
| Rural area | 1966 (9.1%) | 52,622 (23.8%) | 3121 (11.4%) | 49,477 (25.1%) |
| Type of community care received m | ||||
| Medicine subspecialty | 4521 (18.7%) | 61,841 (23.3%) | 6670 (20.0%) | 57,071 (24.0%) |
| Surgical care | 3473 (20.2%) | 44,929 (21.9%) | 5987 (23.0%) | 40,205 (21.8%) |
| Eye care | 2344 (11.9%) | 25,997 (13.4%) | 2893 (12.3%) | 24,068 (13.8%) |
| Acupuncture | 3495 (32.5%) | 37,267 (27.9%) | 5872 (33.0%) | 31,409 (26.7%) |
| Psychiatric | 747 (9.2%) | 5199 (4.9%) | 781 (5.8%) | 4431 (4.8%) |
| Primary care | 727 (3.4%) | 8411 (3.4%) | 567 (1.9%) | 8054 (3.7%) |
| Other | 1183 (4.1%) | 17,081 (5.2%) | 1536 (4.1%) | 15,075 (5.1%) |
aTable shows characteristics of Veterans included in the Survey of Healthcare Experience of Patients (SHEP) survey, which is administered to Veterans who used VA community care in the prior 90 days. Sample characteristics are stratified by ethnicity and race. For continuous variables (e.g., age), survey-weighted means and standard deviations [brackets] are presented. For categorical variables (e.g., gender), unweighted frequencies and survey-weighted proportions (parentheses) are presented. Weighted means and proportions calculated using SHEP survey weights. Characteristics are for pooled data from 2016 to 2021
bAnalyses of Veterans categorized by ethnicity included all racial groups. Analyses of Veterans categorized as Black, African American, or White included all ethnic groups. Race and ethnicity were self-reported by respondents to the SHEP survey
cWeighted sample size calculated using SHEP survey weights
dSelf-reported by SHEP respondents
eCount of 0–30 comorbidity indicators in the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index. Comorbidities assessed from diagnoses in VA corporate data warehouse (for care delivered in VA facilities) or VA Program Integrity Tool File (for VA-funded community care) during the two federal fiscal years preceding the SHEP survey. All Veterans for whom data on comorbid conditions were utilized were present in the VA system for at least 2 years prior to the survey
fDiagnosis of substance use disorder related to drug or alcohol use, assessed from diagnoses in VA corporate data warehouse and VA Program Integrity Tool File for Veterans during the two federal fiscal years preceding the SHEP survey
gDiagnosis of bipolar disorder, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis, assessed from diagnoses reported in VA corporate data warehouse and VA Program Integrity Tool File captured for Veterans during the two federal fiscal years preceding the SHEP survey
hData from the VA CDW. Veterans were categorized by the VA into 1 of 8 priority groups based on military service, disability, income, and other benefit factors. Priority groups 1–4 include Veterans with the most significant levels of service-connected disability. Priority group 5 includes Veterans with low incomes without service-connected disabilities. Priority group 6 includes Veterans seeking care for radiation, toxic substances, or other environmental exposures. Priority groups 7 and 8 include Veterans with non-service-connected disabilities who are required to make copayments for VA care
iData from Medicaid enrollment files linked to VA administrative data and include Medicaid enrollment in the two federal fiscal years preceding the SHEP
jData from Medicare enrollment files linked to VA administrative data and include Medicare Parts A and B (both fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage Plans) enrollment data from the two federal fiscal years preceding the SHEP
lUrbanicity assessed from Department of Agriculture Rural–Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes, which were linked to Veterans by residential ZIP code
mVA SHEP respondents were stratified by the type of community care received during the prior 90 days. We used detailed information on community care services to group Veterans into 7 categories that differentiate between types of community care received