Abstract
Objective: To examine self-rated health and activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) veterans relative to white veterans. Methods: We use the 2010 National Survey of Veterans and limit the sample to veterans who identify as AI/AN or non-Hispanic white. We calculated descriptive statistics, confidence intervals, and used logistic regression. Results: AI/AN veterans are younger, have lower levels of income, and have higher levels of exposure to combat and environmental hazards compared to white veterans. We found that AI/AN veterans are significantly more likely to report fair/poor health controlling for socioeconomic status and experience an ADL controlling for age, health behaviors, socioeconomic status, and military factors. Discussion: The results indicate that AI/AN veterans are a disadvantaged population in terms of their health and disability compared to white veterans. AI/AN veterans may require additional support from family members and/or Veteran Affairs to address ADLs.
Highlights
American Indian and Alaska Native peoples ( AI/ ANs) have participated in the US military since the American Revolution, and their substantial contributions have been noted (Department of Defense, 2010)
Controlling for gender and age, we found that AI/AN veterans are 73% (i.e., odds ratios (OR) = 1.73, 95% CI: [1.22, 2.44]) more likely to report fair/poor health than white veterans
Model 3 controlled for health behaviors, and we found that AI/AN veterans have 1.41 higher odds of reporting fair/poor health than whites; after accounting for access to smoking, access to health care, and period of service, we found that the differences between AI/AN veterans and white veterans were no longer statistically significant (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: [0.97– 2.07])
Summary
American Indian and Alaska Native peoples ( AI/ ANs) have participated in the US military since the American Revolution, and their substantial contributions have been noted (Department of Defense, 2010). Other research that has analyzed racial and ethnic disparities in the health of veterans has often excluded AI/AN peoples (Sheehan et al, 2015), with one recent exception that focused on rural and urban AI/AN veteran health disparities (Kaufman et al, 2020). We extend the literature on Native veteran health through examining the self-rated health and functional disability—measured by activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations—relative to nonHispanic white male veterans ( white)
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