Excerpt

Women are playing an ever increasing role in the US military, representing about 15% of active military personnel, 17% of reserve and National Guard forces, and 20% of new military recruits. Concurrently, women are one of the fastest growing groups of new users in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System, with particularly high rates of utilization among veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Of the more than 100,000 OEF/OIF women veterans, over 44% have enrolled in the VA system for health care. Thus, women veterans represent an integral part of the veteran community.

Women’s military experiences and responses to their military experiences are often distinct from those of men, and these differences can affect both their health status and their health care needs as active duty personnel and as veterans. This, together with the rise in the number of women veterans in the VA system, calls for increased understanding of women veteran health issues and areas of potential knowledge deficit in order to guide VA care and VA research efforts. The body of research literature dedicated to women veterans and women’s military health and health care issues has significantly grown and expanded in size and scope since the publication of the first systematic review of women veterans research. This project updated that review by examining the literature on women veterans’ health and health care from 2004 to 2008.

Contents

• PREFACE
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • BACKGROUND
  • METHODS
  • RESULTS
  • CONCLUSIONS
• INTRODUCTION
  • BACKGROUND
• METHODS
  • TOPIC DEVELOPMENT
  • SEARCH STRATEGY
  • STUDY SELECTION
  • DATA ABSTRACTION
  • QUALITY ASSESSMENT
  • DATA SYNTHESIS
  • CROSS WALK BETWEEN BASELINE REVIEW AND UPDATED REVIEW
  • PEER REVIEW
• RESULTS
  • LITERATURE FLOW
  • DESCRIPTION OF EVIDENCE
• SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
  • BUILDING KNOWLEDGE: NOTABLE RESEARCH ADVANCES
  • ONGOING GAPS: FUTURE VA RESEARCH TARGETS
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • FUTURE RESEARCH
• REFERENCES
• Appendices
  • APPENDIX 1 SCREENER FORM
  • APPENDIX 2 STRUCTURED ABSTRACT FORM
  • APPENDIX 3 SCREENER APPLICATION GUIDELINES
  • APPENDIX 4 SEARCH STRATEGY
  • APPENDIX 5 DEPLOYMENT AND POST-DEPLOYMENT HEALTH EVIDENCE TABLE
  • APPENDIX 6 ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH EVIDENCE TABLE
  • APPENDIX 7 QUALITY OF CARE EVIDENCE TABLE
  • APPENDIX 8 ACCESS AND UTILIZATION EVIDENCE TABLE
  • APPENDIX 9 PSYCHIATRIC/MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES EVIDENCE TABLE
  • APPENDIX 10 PEER REVIEW COMMENTS

Prepared for: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research & Development Service, Washington, DC 20420. Prepared by: Evidence-based Synthesis Program (ESP) Center, West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, Paul G Shekelle, MD, PhD, Director

Suggested citation:

Bean-Mayberry B, Batuman F, Huang C, Goldzweig CL, Washington DL, Yano EM, Miake-Lye I, Shekelle PG. Systematic Review of Women Veterans Health Research 2004–2008. VA-ESP Project #05-226; 2010

This report is based on research conducted by the Evidence-based Synthesis Program (ESP) Center located at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development. The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s) who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government. Therefore, no statement in this article should be construed as an official position of the Department of Veterans Affairs. No investigators have any affiliations or financial involvement (e.g., employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties) that conflict with material presented in the report.