Table 2.
Prevalence of chronic health conditions in all homeless women Veterans who accessed the VHA between FY2002–2015 and the subgroup of recent Iraq and Afghanistan conflict homeless women Veterans compared to a matched housed cohort (from Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn, OEF/OIF/OND).
| All VHA Users FY2002–2015 |
OEF/OIF/OND VHA Users FY2002–2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Value | Homeless N (%) | Housed N (%) | Homeless N (%) | Housed N (%) |
| TOTAL | 41747 (100.00) | 46391 (100.00) | 7573 (100.00) | 8674 (100.00) | |
| Any medical diagnosis(es) | 31202 (74.74) | 25800 (55.61) | 4701 (62.08) | 3892 (44.87) | |
| CDC MEC Diagnoses | Hypertension | 16309 (39.07) | 12598 (27.16) | 1359 (17.95) | 1097 (12.65) |
| Advanced diabetes mellitus | 6351 (15.21) | 4828 (10.41) | 391 (5.16) | 319 (3.68) | |
| Reproductive cancer | 4962 (11.89) | 3870 (8.34) | 889 (11.74) | 730 (8.42) | |
| High risk cardiac disease* | 3937 (9.43) | 2784 (6.00) | 195 (2.58) | 140 (1.61) | |
| Moderate risk cardiac disease** | 2849 (6.82) | 2084 (4.49) | 224 (2.96) | 179 (2.06) | |
| Epilepsy | 1988 (4.76) | 1171 (2.52) | 221 (2.92) | 81 (0.93) | |
| Cerebral vascular accident | 1677 (4.02) | 1105 (2.38) | 93 (1.23) | 46 (0.53) | |
| Breast cancer | 837 (2.01) | 994 (2.04) | 45 (5.94) | 70 (0.81) | |
| Systemic lupus erythematosis | 600 (1.43) | 554 (1.19) | 50 (0.66) | 58 (0.67) | |
| Severe cirrhosis | 514 (1.23) | 264 (0.57) | 16 (0.21) | 7 (0.08) | |
| HIV/AIDS | 402 (0.96) | 148 (0.32) | 23 (0.30) | 14 (0.16) | |
| Tuberculosis | 220 (0.53) | 121 (0.26) | 27 (0.36) | 23 (0.27) | |
| Thrombogenic mutations | 209 (0.50) | 175 (0.38) | 21 (0.28) | 13 (0.15) | |
| Malignant liver tumors | 49 (0.11) | 25 (0.05) | 3 (0.04) | 0 (0) | |
| Sickle cell disease | 36 (0.09) | 16 (0.04) | 4 (0.05) | 1 (0.01) | |
| Bariatric surgery | 133 (0.32) | 87 (0.19) | 5 (0.07) | 4 (0.05) | |
| Solid organ transplant | 58 (0.14) | 89 (0.19) | 4 (0.05) | 4 (0.05) | |
| Prevalent medical conditions in reproductive age women | Obesity | 19466 (46.63) | 14336 (30.90) | 2834 (37.42) | 2006 (23.13) |
| Asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 8379 (20.07) | 6272 (13.52) | 1161 (15.33) | 872 (10.05) | |
| Thyroid disease | 5627 (13.48) | 5553 (11.97) | 566 (7.47) | 628 (7.24) | |
| Inflammatory bowel diseases | 451 (1.08) | 572 (1.23) | 47 (0.62) | 61 (0.70) | |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 992 (2.38) | 950 (2.05) | 62 (0.82) | 68 (0.78) | |
| Any psychiatric diagnosis(es) | 35280 (84.51) | 22598 (48.71) | 6461 (85.32) | 4491 (51.78) | |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder/Adjustment disorder | 25878 (61.99) | 12841 (27.68) | 5328 (70.36) | 3255 (37.53) | |
| Anxiety disorder | 11959 (28.65) | 6478 (13.96) | 1335 (17.63) | 681 (7.85) | |
| Mood disorder | 32957 (78.95) | 20593 (44.39) | 5866 (77.46) | 3755 (43.29) | |
| Schizophrenia | 4274 (10.24) | 1218 (2.63) | 315 (4.16) | 46 (0.53) | |
| Suicide attempt/self-inflicted injury | 2846 (6.82) | 677 (1.46) | 370 (4.89) | 92 (1.06) | |
| Any substance use disorder(s) | 14950 (35.81) | 3986 (8.59) | 1966 (25.96) | 507 (5.85) | |
| Alcohol abuse | 11200 (26.83) | 2704 (5.83) | 1430 (18.89) | 399 (4.60) | |
| Substance use disorder | 11734 (28.11) | 2351 (5.07) | 1384 (18.28) | 213 (2.46) | |
| Evidence of smoking | 19943 (47.77) | 11759 (25.35) | 2938 (38.80) | 1804 (20.80) | |
High risk cardiac diagnoses include coronary artery disease, prosthetic mechanical valve, complex congenital heart disease, peripartum cardiomyopathy, NYHA class II/IV, aortic root dilation >4cm, severe pulmonary hypertension, severe valvular disease with heart failure
Moderate risk cardiac diagnoses include arrhythmias, mild left ventricular dysfunction, moderate native valve disease, mild aortic root dilation, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
VHA = Veterans Healthcare Administration; OEF/OIF/OND= Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn conflicts; FY= fiscal year; CDC MEC = Centers for Disease Control Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use conditions associated with increased adverse health outcomes as a result of pregnancy