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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2004.043570v1 95/12/2231    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Washington, D. L. Articles by Harada, N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Washington, D. L. Articles by Harada, N. Related Collections Access to Care Other Health Service Delivery Other Race/Ethnicity

Donna L. Washington, MD, MPH, Valentine Villa, PhD, Arleen Brown, MD, PhD, JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez, PhD and Nancy Harada, PhD

Donna L. Washington is with the Department of Medicine, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, Calif, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles. Valentine Villa is with the UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles. Arleen Brown is the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez is with the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Welfare, Los Angeles. Nancy Harada is with the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, the UCLA School of Public Health, and the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Donna L. Washington, MD, MPH, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, 111G, Los Angeles, CA 90073. (e-mail: donna.washington{at}med.va.gov).

Objectives. We assessed racial/ethnic variations in patterns of ambulatory care use among Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care–eligible veterans to determine if racial/ethnic differences in health care use persist in equal-access systems.

Methods. We surveyed 3227 male veterans about their health and ambulatory care use.

Results. Thirty-eight percent of respondents had not had a health care visit in the previous 12 months. Black (odds ratio [OR] = 0.5), Hispanic (OR = 0.4), and Asian/Pacific Islander veterans (OR=0.4) were less likely than White veterans to report any ambulatory care use. Alternately, Whites (OR=2.2) were more likely than other groups to report ambulatory care use. Being White was a greater predictor of health care use than was having fair or poor health (OR=1.4) or functional limitations (OR=1.5). In non-VA settings, racial/ethnic minorities were less likely to have a usual provider of health care. There was no VA racial/ethnic variation in this parameter.

Conclusions. Racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care use are present among VA health care–eligible veterans. Although the VA plays an important role in health care delivery to ethnic minority veterans, barriers to VA ambulatory care use and additional facilitators for reducing unmet need still need to be investigated.