The burden of illness in the first year home: do male and female VA users differ in health conditions and healthcare utilization

BACKGROUND: we sought to describe gender differences in medical and mental health conditions and health care utilization among veterans who used Veterans Health Administration (VA) services in the first year after combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. METHODS: this is an observational study, using VA administrative and clinical data bases, of 163,812 Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans who had enrolled in VA and who had at least one visit within 1 year of last deployment. RESULTS: female veterans were slightly younger (mean age, 30 years vs. 32 for men; p