The Quality of VA Mental Health Services

This study examines whether male and female veterans differ on either subjective or objective measures of the quality of VA mental health care. The study sample were all discharged with a psychiatric diagnosis from a VA inpatient mental health program. Results indicate that women were less satisfied with inpatient care, but were mixed on their satisfaction with overall mental health care. Males and females did not differ on the quality of inpatient care, but women had significantly higher quality of outpatient care. These results not only highlight the need to stratify or adjust quality measures by gender, but also highlight the potential confounding effect of sub-group specific health behaviors on measures of quality.