Ethnicity and Race Variations in Receipt of Surgery among Veterans with and without Depression

Table 2

Characteristics of VHA patients (𝑁=317,072).

Characteristic	All patients		White patients		African-American patients		Hispanic patients
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Age in FY2005 (range 18–103)	62.7	14.9	64.2	14.6	55.7	14.4	58.1	16.4
Selim index of chronic physical conditions (range 0–15)	2.4	1.9	2.4	1.9	2.2	1.9	2.1	1.8
Charlson comorbidity score (range 0–23)	1.1	1.6	1.1	1.6	1.1	1.8	1.1	1.7
	𝑁	%	𝑁	%	𝑁	%	𝑁	%
White	254,761	80.4					11,793	70.1
African-American	54,307	17.1					4,380	26.0
Females	16,821	5.3	11,793	4.6	4,380	8.1
Women	16,375	5.2	11,093	4.4	4,778	8.8	842	5.0
Males	300,697	94.8	243,668	95.7	49,529	91.2	15,979	94.99
Priority 1—50–100% disability, service-connected	53,826	17.0	41,165	16.2	10,676	19.7	3,141	18.7
Priority 2—30–40% disability, service-connected	21,572	6.8	16,220	6.4	4,624	8.5	1,186	7.1
Priority 3—10–20% disability, service-connected	34,928	11.0	27,672	10.9	6,290	11.6	1,859	11.1
Priority 4—catastrophically disabled	13,472	4.3	9,872	3.9	3,329	6.1	869	5.2
Priority 5—low income	112,482	35.5	88,290	34.7	21,739	40.0	7,192	42.8
Priority 6—special military service groups	9,644	3.0	7,907	3.1	1,465	2.7	784	4.7
Priority 7 or 8—other veterans, with copayments	71,148	22.4	63,635	25.0	6,184	11.4	1,790	10.7
Major depressive disorder	27,296	8.6	21,682	8.5	4,936	9.1	1,693	10.1
Hypertension	181,765	57.3	146,634	57.6	30,880	56.9	8,616	51.2
Dyslipidemia	158,207	49.9	134,831	52.9	19,689	36.3	7,386	43.9
Digestive surgeries	3,755	1.2	2,866	1.1	733	1.4	239	1.4
Hip/Knee surgeries	3,109	1.0	2,392	0.9	554	1.0	132	0.8
Vascular operations	11,330	3.6	9,113	3.6	1,799	3.3	506	3.0
CABG (coronary artery bypass graft)	1,899	0.60	1,614	0.6	203	0.4	87	0.5