Table 1.
Characteristics of California Births, among VA‐enrolled Veterans and the General Population (aged 19–49), 2000–2012
| VA‐enrolled Veterans’ Births | All Other Births | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17,495 (0.3%) | 6,588,478 (99.7%) | |||
| n | % | n | % | |
| Unique mothersa | 13,032 | n/a | 4,825,676 | n/a |
| Maternal Age in years, Mean (SD)b | 28.9 (5.3) | 28.3 (6) | ||
| 19–24 | 3,028 | 23.2 | 1,505,631 | 31.2 |
| 25–29 | 4,602 | 35.3 | 1,316,749 | 27.3 |
| 30–34 | 3,295 | 25.3 | 1,189,311 | 24.6 |
| 35–39 | 1,631 | 12.5 | 640,889 | 13.3 |
| 40–49 | 476 | 3.7 | 173,096 | 3.6 |
| Maternal race | ||||
| Black | 1,848 | 14.2 | 246,635 | 5.1 |
| White | 9,371 | 71.9 | 3,742,676 | 77.5 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 801 | 6.2 | 607,290 | 12.6 |
| Other/Unknown | 463 | 3.6 | 149,240 | 3.1 |
| Multiracec | 549 | 4.2 | 79,835 | 1.7 |
| Maternal ethnicity: Hispanic | 3,182 | 24.4 | 2,524,406 | 52.3 |
| Maternal educationd | ||||
| <High school | 256 | 2 | 1,322,699 | 27.4 |
| High school graduate | 3,298 | 25.3 | 1,247,418 | 25.9 |
| Some college, but <4 years | 5,864 | 45 | 988,414 | 20.5 |
| College graduate | 2,148 | 16.5 | 671,738 | 13.9 |
| Some graduate education | 1,099 | 8.4 | 453,463 | 9.4 |
| Payer | ||||
| VA | 1,508 | 8.6 | n/a | n/a |
| Medicaid | 3,026 | 17.3 | 2,868,960 | 43.5 |
| Private Insurance | 8,325 | 47.6 | 3,316,599 | 50.3 |
| TRICARE/Birth in DoD Hospital | 3,403 | 19.5 | 96,360 | 1.5 |
| Self‐Pay or Unknown | 337 | 1.9 | 231,287 | 3.5 |
| Other Government Payer | 892 | 5.1 | 70,532 | 1.1 |
| Unattended birth | 4 | <0.1 | 4,740 | 0.1 |
| Obstetric profile | ||||
| Twins/higher order | 657 | 3.8 | 213,399 | 3.2 |
| Paritye: Multiparous | 10,758 | 61.5 | 4,190,121 | 63.6 |
All comparisons were p ≤ .001 aside from payer: Unattended birth (p = .01); p‐values were derived using chi‐square/Fisher's exact test for categorical, and t‐test for continuous variables.
1,133 mothers had ≥1 VA‐enrolled Veteran birth(s) and ≥1 all other birth(s), suggesting they had deliveries both before and after obtaining Veteran status. Statistical testing shown for unadjusted comparisons excludes those individuals; subsequent adjusted models take into account within‐subject correlation for repeated individuals.
Age restricted to >18 for comparability; for mothers with >1 birth in data, statistics are based on age at first birth.
This category was introduced newly to birth data in 2003, so applies only for births 2003–2012
Missing for VA 367 (2.8%); all other 141,944 (2.9%)
Missing for VA 7 (0.04%); all other 5,749 (0.09%)
DoD, Department of Defense; TRICARE, US Military insurance for service members and beneficiaries; VA, Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System