The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) considers tinnitus a disability. Veterans can claim tinnitus as a "service-connected" disability if the tinnitus is thought to be connected to military service. The VA adjudicates each claim and determines whether reasonable evidence exists to support it. Currently, determining the presence of tinnitus is based on subjective reporting-objective measures d...

OBJECTIVES We assessed the accuracy of self-reported veteran status among sheltered homeless adults to assess the reliability of using self-report to determine the number of veterans in homeless populations and examine whether there are demographic correlates to inaccurate reporting of veteran status. METHODS Records on 5,860 sheltered adults from Columbus, Ohio, and 16,346 sheltered adults f...

The present issue of Epidemiologic Reviews is dedicated to better understanding the health of men and women who have served in the military. There are 13 articles that discuss a range of physical and mental health concerns among both military personnel who are currently serving and those who served in the past. The corresponding research provides insight into issues that are directly relevant a...

689. Antibiotic Prescribing and Stewardship Opportunities within a Veterans Affairs Dental Care Practice Kimberly Y. Grady, DDS, MPH; Nathan Shively, MD; Cornelius J. Clancy, MD and Brooke K. Decker, MD, CIC; Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, School of Med...

689. Antibiotic Prescribing and Stewardship Opportunities within a Veterans Affairs Dental Care Practice Kimberly Y. Grady, DDS, MPH; Nathan Shively, MD; Cornelius J. Clancy, MD and Brooke K. Decker, MD, CIC; Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, School of Med...

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 addressed the need for access to timely, high-quality health care for veterans. Section 201 of the legislation called for an independent assessment of various aspects of veterans' health care. The RAND Corporation was tasked with an assessment of the current and projected demographics and health care needs of patients served by the Dep...

BACKGROUND Medical students often struggle to apply their nascent clinical skills in clerkships. While transitional clerkships can orient students to new roles and logistics, students may benefit from developing clinical skills in inpatient environments earlier in their curriculum to improve readiness for clerkships. INTERVENTION Our four- to six-session elective provides pre-clerkship studen...

BACKGROUND Intestinal stomas (ostomies) have been associated negatively with multiple aspects of health-related quality of life. This article examines the relationship between employment status and psychological well-being (PWB) in veterans who underwent major bowel procedures with or without ostomy. METHODS Veterans from 3 Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers were surveyed using the City of...

OBJECTIVES We identified risk and need profiles of homeless veterans and examined the relation between profiles and referrals and admissions to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) homeless service programs. METHODS We examined data from the VA's new Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System on 120,852 veterans from 142 sites nationally in 2011 and 2012 using latent class analyses b...