Attention A T users. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. 1. Please switch auto forms mode to off. 2. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). 3. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. You will now be able to tab or arrow up or down through the submenu options to access/activate the submenu links.

VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP)

Menu
Menu
Quick Links
Veterans Crisis Line Badge
My healthevet badge
 

Veterans' Quality of Life Study

 

Investigator Access

What's Available



Check with the study contact and publications for information on a public dataset, data archive, data enclave, or website where data might be available.

Available Documentation

Dates Data are Available

Access Criteria

Study Characteristics

Objectives

To describe the health status of Veterans receiving care in a single Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), Upper Midwest Health Care Network - VISN 13

Era of Service

All

Population

Veterans in the former VISN 13 who had at least one inpatient or outpatient encounter between 10/1/1997 and 3/31/1998 (VISN 13 merged with VISN 14 to create VISN 23: Midwest)

Study Design

Cross-sectional survey with prospective follow-up

Time Period

1997-1998

Setting

Former Upper Midwest VISN 13 (now a part of VISN 23), a regional Veterans Affairs (VA) network comprising five inpatient facilities and associated outpatient clinics.

N

40,508 participants

Response Rate

58% (of 70,334 surveys mailed)

Recruitment Method

  • Eligible Veterans were identified from administrative data files of respective medical facilities
  • The questionnaire and cover letter were mailed in August 1998
  • After 10 weeks, non-responders were mailed a duplicate questionnaire

Compensation

Unconfirmed

Data Collected

  • Health-related quality of life (HRQoL)
  • Level of function for basic activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, eating, getting in or out of chairs, walking, and toileting)
  • Sociodemographic characteristics (sex, education level, race, ethnicity)
  • Health-related behaviors (current use of cigarettes)
  • Health conditions (e.g., lung disorders, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, depression, and heart disease)

Data Collection Method

Four-page, computer-scored self-administered questionnaire sent by mail

Funding Source

VA Upper Midwest Veterans Network (VISN 13)

Investigator

Jasvinder A. Singh, MD, MPH

Contact

Unconfirmed

Selected Publications

Singh JA, Borowsky SJ, Nugent S, Murdoch M, Zhao Y, Nelson DB, Petzel R, Nichol KL. Health-Related Quality of Life, Functional Impairment, and Healthcare Utilization by Veterans: Veterans' Quality of Life Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005 Jan;53(1):108-13.

Singh, Jasvinder A, Accuracy of Veterans Affairs Databases for Diagnoses of Chronic Diseases. Preventing Chronic Disease, Oct 2009;6(6): A126.

More Information

None