TABLE 2.
Health System Distrust Before and After the 2014 Media Coverage of Waitlists for VA Health Care, Stratified by Sex
| Women | Men | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | β | 95% CI | P | β | 95% CI | P |
| Days before or following April 23, 2014 | ||||||
| >180 d prior | 0.002 | −0.006 to 0.010 | 0.68 | 0.001 | −0.005 to 0.005 | 0.99 |
| 91–180 d prior | −0.002 | −0.007 to 0.003 | 0.45 | 0.001 | −0.004 to 0.005 | 0.77 |
| 0–90 d prior | 0.002 | −0.001 to 0.005 | 0.16 | −0.001 | −0.003 to 0.002 | 0.93 |
| 1–90 d following | 0.005 | 0.002 to 0.007 | <0.001 | 0.002 | −0.001 to 0.005 | 0.05 |
| 91–180 d following | −0.005 | −0.009 to −0.001 | <0.01 | −0.001 | −0.004 to 0.002 | 0.52 |
| >180 d following | 0.003 | −0.008 to 0.014 | 0.57 | 0.001 | −0.005 to 0.008 | 0.71 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White (reference) | 1.0 | 1.0 | ||||
| Black | 0.205 | 0.059 to 0.350 | <0.01 | 0.263 | 0.138 to 0.388 | <0.001 |
| Hispanic | 0.022 | −0.130 to 0.174 | 0.78 | 0.177 | 0.051 to 0.304 | <0.01 |
| Age | −0.005 | −0.010 to 0.001 | 0.05 | −0.001 | −0.005 to 0.003 | 0.52 |
| Education | ||||||
| ≤High school (reference) | 1.0 | 1.0 | ||||
| Trade school/some college | −0.035 | −0.270 to 0.199 | 0.77 | 0.012 | −0.116 to 0.140 | 0.84 |
| ≥College graduate | 0.012 | −0.229 to 0.248 | 0.92 | 0.026 | −0.113 to 0.165 | 0.72 |
| No. health conditions | 0.071 | 0.023 to 0.120 | <0.01 | 0.004 | −0.032 to 0.165 | 0.90 |
| Depression | 0.060 | −0.106 to 0.226 | 0.48 | 0.374 | 0.240 to 0.509 | <0.001 |
| Received all health care at VA | −0.135 | −0.260 to −0.010 | 0.03 | −0.260 | −0.370 to −0.149 | <0.001 |
β coefficients, obtained from mixed effect linear regressions, represent adjusted differences in average distrust ratings. Time, operationalized as number of days before or following media coverage of VA waitlists, is represented as a series of linear splines with nodes at 90-day intervals. Positive spline coefficients indicate that, accounting for measured characteristics of participants interviewed in each time period, ratings of distrust increased monotonically with each day during the time interval. Negative spline coefficients indicate that, accounting for measured characteristics of participants interviewed in each time period, ratings of distrust decreased monotonically during the time interval. β coefficients for the covariates are interpreted as differences in distrust after accounting for the interview date. For instance, the β for Black women is 0.205, indicating that ratings of distrust were 0.21 points higher on average in all time periods than ratings for women.
CI indicates confidence interval; VA, Veterans Affairs.