UNMET NEEDS OF OLDER FEMALE VETERANS AND GENDER DIFFERENCES USING THE PROSPECTIVE HERO CARE SURVEY DATA

Abstract

Abstract Aging female Veterans face unique healthcare needs which are yet to be well-described. We analyzed round one data from HERO CARE, a prospective survey, to describe the medical, psychological, and social unmet needs of female Veterans and compare them with those of male Veterans. We received survey responses from 8,056 community-dwelling Veterans (227 (2.8%) females and 7,829 (97.2%) males) from San Antonio, Palo Alto, Miami, Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers, and Veteran Integrated Service Network 8 in July 2021. We compared difference in needs between the female and male respondents using chi-square tests and difference in age in years using t-tests. Respondents were classified as having an unmet need if they responded that they needed “a little” or “a lot more help” for specific needs. Female respondents were 74.3 (SD: 14.5) years-old on average, and 7.9% Hispanic, 15.4% non-Hispanic Black, 72.7% non-Hispanic White. Male respondents were older 80.3 (SD: 9.8) years-old on average (p< 0.01), with no significant difference in race/ethnicity. Female Veterans reported unmet needs in ADLs (14.1%), IADLs (40.1%), nursing tasks (7.1%), pain management (17.6%), communicating with the healthcare team (10.6%), and social needs like legal or housing (16.3%). All unmet needs were like those of male Veterans (all p>0.05). Among female Veterans, 20.1% screened positive for anxiety (GAD-2 score >2) and 22.8% for depression (PHQ-2 score >2), compared to male Veterans: 15.2% (p< 0.01) and 21.6% (p=0.41), respectively. Routine assessment of aging female Veterans, specifically focusing on mental health and IADLs, may better address their needs.