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Gender Differences in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Justice-Involved Veterans After Prison Incarceration

Thu, Nov 20, 6:00 to 8:00pm, Marriott, Golden Gate, B2 Level

Abstract

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Healthcare for Reentry Veterans (HCRV) program connects Veterans exiting prison with VHA services to treat mental illness, which affects over half of justice-involved Veterans. To better understand gender differences in this population, we compared female versus male justice-involved Veterans served by HCRV on risk for diagnosis of mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) conditions. Using national VHA outpatient data from fiscal years 2008-2012, we selected all women (n=448) and men (n=23,028) Veterans in contact with the HCRV program. Conditions were coded if there was any instance of a MH or SUD ICD-9-CM diagnosis code in a Veteran’s health record within 1 year after the initial HCRV outreach visit. Women had higher age-adjusted odds than men of being diagnosed with depression (OR=2.68), post-traumatic stress (2.48), anxiety (1.88), schizophrenia (2.25), bipolar (2.95), personality (1.85), cocaine use (1.32), other stimulant use (1.88), and other drug use (1.27) disorders (all p<.05). Given the higher odds of MH and SUD conditions among this sample of women Veterans, ensuring access to and engagement in MH/SUD care tailored to their unique needs will be crucial given that their MH or SUD conditions could actively contribute to their risk of recidivism.

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