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Published Online: September 2011

Perceptions of Quality of Health Care Among Veterans With Psychiatric Disorders

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Abstract

Objective:

An estimated 37% to 40% of veterans treated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have a psychiatric disorder, and many of them have comorbid general medical problems. This study examined the impact of demographic and clinical characteristics on perceptions of outpatient health care experiences among veterans with psychiatric disorders.

Methods:

Responses from the Survey of Health Care Experiences (SHEP) administered by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and administrative data from the VA were collected for 55,578 patients aged 18 and older with a psychiatric disorder surveyed in fiscal year 2005. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were used to examine the associations between demographic and clinical characteristics and patients' responses about providers' attentiveness, collaboration in health care decisions, confidence in providers, and overall quality of care.

Results:

Most veterans with psychiatric disorders perceived their health care experiences positively. However, those who were younger, were nonwhite, had lower incomes, had a service-connected disability, and had been diagnosed as having PTSD or a substance use disorder were less likely to perceive their health care experiences positively.

Conclusions:

An opportunity exists to improve clinical practice and design health care services to better serve certain groups of patients at VHA facilities. Areas of improvement may include rapport building and developing ways to include patients in decisions about their health care. (Psychiatric Services 62:1054–1059, 2011)

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Table 1 Perceptions of health care experiences among 55,578 veterans with psychiatric disorders
Table 2 Association between characteristics of veterans (N=55,578) with psychiatric disorders and their perceptions of health care experiences

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Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Cover: Approaching Thunder Storm, by Martin Johnson Heade, 1859. Oil on canvas, 28 × 44 inches. Gift of Erving Wolf Foundation and Mr. and Mrs. Erving Wolf, 1975. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, New York.
Psychiatric Services
Pages: 1054 - 1059
PubMed: 21885584

History

Published in print: September 2011
Published online: 14 January 2015

Authors

Details

Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Ph.D.
Amy S. B. Bohnert, Ph.D.
The authors are affiliated with Health Services Research and Development, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, 2215 Fuller Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (e-mail: [email protected]).

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