Veterans Health Administration Screening for Military Sexual Trauma May Not Capture Over Half of Cases Among Midlife Women Veterans.

Approximately 1 in 3 women veterans endorse military sexual trauma (MST) during Veterans Health Administration (VHA) screening. Higher rates have been reported in anonymous surveys. We compared MST identified by VHA screening to survey-reported MST within the same sample and identified participant characteristics associated with discordant responses. Cross-sectional data were drawn from an observational study of women veterans aged 45–64 enrolled in VHA care in Northern California, with data from mail- and web-based surveys linked to VHA electronic health records (EHRs). Between March 2019 and May 2020, participants reported sociodemographic characteristics, current depressive (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and posttraumatic stress (PTSD checklist for DSM-5) symptoms, and MST (using standard VHA screening questions) in a survey; depression and posttraumatic stress disorder diagnoses (ICD-10 codes) and documented MST were identified from EHRs. Associations between sociodemographic characteristics, mental health symptoms and diagnoses, and discordant MST reports (EHR-documented MST vs. MST reported on survey, not in EHR) were examined with multivariable logistic regression. In this sample of midlife women veterans (n = 202; mean age 56, SD = 5), 40% had EHR-documented MST, and 74% reported MST on the survey. Sociodemographic characteristics, mental health symptoms, and diagnosed depression were not associated with discordant MST responses. Women with an EHR-documented PTSD diagnosis had fivefold higher odds of having EHR-documented MST (vs. survey only; odds ratio 5.2; 95% confidence interval 2.3–11.9). VHA screening may not capture more than half of women who reported MST on the survey. VHA screening may underestimate true rates of MST, which could lead to a gap in recognition and care for women veterans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]