What is it about?
Over 18 years, very few Veterans with PTSD who were eligible for routine, age-based re-evaluations left the VA disability rolls. Of those that did, many had their benefits restored later.
Featured Image
Photo by jan abellan on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Legally, the VA must conduct these re-evaluations. In 2017, about 43% of the PTSD disability evaluation workload was related to re-evaluations. These re-evaluations take time and resources; they can also be upsetting to Veterans. Perhaps the re-evaluation policies could be re-visited to become more cost-effective and evidence-based.
Perspectives
Although we had to wait 18 years to get to this point, this is a fairly simple, descriptive paper. I believe it shows how even simple study designs can deliver important, policy-relevant information. I was so lucky to work with some of the most knowledgeable researchers in this field on this paper. I would love to see more people work in this area
Dr. Maureen Murdoch
Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Changes in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Service Connection Among Veterans Under Age 55: An 18-Year Ecological Cohort Study, Military Medicine, April 2019, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/milmed/usz052.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
