Racial and Ethnic Variation in Complementary and Integrative Health Therapy Use Among US Veterans.

Importance: White individuals are the greatest users of complementary and integrative health (CIH) therapies in the general population, but this might partially be due to differences in age, health condition, and location. Identifying the nuances in racial and ethnic differences in care is one important step to addressing them. Objective: To evaluate racial and ethnic differences in Veterans Affairs (VA)-covered CIH therapy use in a more nuanced manner by examining the association of 5 demographic characteristics, health conditions, and medical facility locations with those differences. Design, Setting, and Participants: Retrospective cross-sectional observational study of VA health care system users, using electronic health record and administrative data at all VA medical facilities and community-based clinics. Participants included veterans with nonmissing race and ethnicity data using VA-funded health care between October 2018 and September 2019. Data were analyzed from June 2022 to April 2023. Main Outcome and Measure: Any use of VA-covered acupuncture, chiropractic care, massage therapy, yoga, or meditation/mindfulness. Results: The sample consisted of 5 260 807 veterans with a mean (SD) age of 62.3 (16.4) years and was 91% male (4 788 267 veterans), 67% non-Hispanic White (3 547 140 veterans), 6% Hispanic (328 396 veterans), and 17% Black (903 699 veterans). Chiropractic care was the most used CIH therapy among non-Hispanic White veterans, Hispanic veterans, and veterans of other races and ethnicities, while acupuncture was the most commonly used therapy among Black veterans. When not accounting for the location of the VA medical facilities in which veterans used health care, Black veterans appeared more likely to use yoga and meditation than non-Hispanic White veterans and far less likely to use chiropractic care, while those of Hispanic or other race and ethnicity appeared more likely to use massage than non-Hispanic White veterans. However, those differences mostly disappeared once controlling for medical facility location, with few exceptions-after adjustment Black veterans were less likely than non-Hispanic White veterans to use yoga and more likely to use chiropractic care. Conclusions and Relevance: This large-scale, cross-sectional study found racial and ethnic differences in use of 4 of 5 CIH therapies among VA health care system users when not considering their medical facility location. Given those differences mostly disappeared once medical facilities were accounted for, the results demonstrated the importance of considering facilities and residential locations when examining racial differences in CIH therapy use. Medical facilities could be a proxy for the racial and ethnic composition of their patients, CIH therapy availability, regional patient or clinician attitudes, or therapy availability.

Hospital Catchment Areas Characteristics and Geographic Regions Associated With Higher COVID-19 Veterans Health Administration Hospitalization During the Omicron Surge.

CONTEXT: Surges in the ongoing coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and accompanying increases in hospitalizations continue to strain hospital systems. Identifying hospital-level characteristics associated with COVID-19 hospitalization rates and clusters of hospitalization "hot spots" can help with hospital system planning and resource allocation. OBJECTIVE: To identify (1) hospital catchment area-level characteristics associated with higher COVID-19 hospitalization rates and (2) geographic regions with high and low COVID-19 hospitalization rates across catchment areas during COVID-19 Omicron surge (December 20, 2021-April 3, 2022). DESIGN: This observational study used Veterans Health Administration (VHA), US Health Resource & Services Administration's Area Health Resources File, and US Census data. We used multivariate regression to identified hospital catchment area-level characteristics associated with COVID-19 hospitalization rates. We used ESRI ArcMap's Getis-Ord Gi* statistic to identify catchment area clusters of hospitalization hot and cold spots. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: VHA hospital catchment areas in the United States (n = 143). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospitalization rate. RESULTS: Greater COVID-19 hospitalization was associated with serving more high hospitalization risk patients (34.2 hospitalizations/10 000 patients per 10-percentage point increase in high hospitalization risk patients; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 29.4, 39.0), fewer patients new to VHA during the pandemic (-3.9, 95% CI: -6.2, -1.6), and fewer COVID vaccine-boosted patients (-5.2; 95% CI: -7.9, -2.5).We identified 2 hospitalization cold spots located in the Pacific Northwest and in the Great Lakes regions, and 2 hot spots in the Great Plains and Southeastern US regions. CONCLUSIONS: Within VHA's nationally integrated health care system, catchment areas serving a larger high hospitalization risk patient population were associated with more Omicron-related hospitalizations, while serving more patients fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19 and new VHA users were associated with lower hospitalization. Hospital and health care system efforts to vaccinate patients, particularly high-risk patients, can potentially safeguard against pandemic surges.Hospitalization hot spots within VHA include states with a high burden of chronic disease in the Great Plains and Southeastern United States.