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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.150730v1 99/S3/S718    most recent Submit a response 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 PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Hausmann, L. R. M. Articles by Ibrahim, S. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hausmann, L. R. M. Articles by Ibrahim, S. A. Related Collections Social Science Other Health Service Delivery Other Race/Ethnicity

Leslie R. M. Hausmann, PhD, Kwonho Jeong, BA, James E. Bost, PhD, Nancy R. Kressin, PhD and Said A. Ibrahim, MD, MPH

Leslie R. M. Hausmann and Said A. Ibrahim are with the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA. Said A. Ibrahim is also with the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh. Kwonho Jeong and James E. Bost are with the Center for Research on Health Care Data Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Nancy R. Kressin is with the Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research, Boston VA Healthcare System, Boston, MA, and the Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to: Leslie R. M. Hausmann, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, 7180 Highland Dr (151C-H), Pittsburgh, PA 15206-1206 (e-mail: leslie.hausmann{at}gmail.com).

Objectives. We compared rates of perceived racial discrimination in health care settings for veteran and nonveteran patients and for veterans who used the Veterans Affairs health care system and those who did not.

Methods. Data were drawn from the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We used logistic regression to examine whether perceived racial discrimination in health care was associated with veteran status or use of Veterans Affairs health care, after adjusting for patient characteristics.

Results. In this sample of 35 902 people, rates of perceived discrimination were equal for veterans and nonveterans (3.4% and 3.5%, respectively; crude odds ratio [OR] = 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77, 1.28; adjusted OR = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.66, 1.28). Among veterans (n = 3420), perceived discrimination was more prevalent among patients who used Veterans Affairs facilities than among those who did not (5.4% vs 2.7%; OR = 2.08; 95% CI = 1.04, 4.18). However, this difference was not significant after adjustment for patient characteristics (OR = 1.30; 95% CI = 0.54, 3.13).

Conclusions. Perceived racial discrimination in health care was equally prevalent among veterans and nonveterans and among veterans who used the Veterans Affairs health care system and those who did not.