skip to page content
Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

Health Services Research & Development

Go to the ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Impact of Housing Insecurity on Outcomes in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Among Veterans.

Yeh SL, Chen AJ, Ulloa JG, Rigberg DA, de Virgilio CM, O'Connell JB, Gelabert HA. Impact of Housing Insecurity on Outcomes in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Among Veterans. Annals of vascular surgery. 2023 Feb 1; 89:36-42.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Veterans are disproportionately affected by housing insecurity (HI), which can lead to adverse health outcomes and reduced life expectancy. We sought to examine the impact of HI on the outcomes of veterans who underwent abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair at our regional Veterans Affairs medical center. METHODS: Retrospective chart review was performed on patients who underwent AAA repair at our institution between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2020. We examined medical history, procedure details, hospitalization course, and postoperative outcomes. Primary endpoints were a 30-day mortality and median survival. Secondary endpoints were hospital length of stay, readmission rate, and perioperative complications. Hypothesis testing was performed with t-test and chi-squared analysis. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier estimation. RESULTS: Of the 314 veterans that underwent AAA repair (mean age of 71.4 ± 7.8 years, 99.7% male) over the 21-year period, we identified 39 (12.4%) patients with a history of HI. The HI was associated with a positive smoking history (100% vs. 88.0%, P  =  0.022), lower rate of hypertension diagnosis (69.2% vs. 84.0%, P  =  0.024), and increased rate of surgical site infections (SSI) (10.3% vs. 1.8%, P  =  0.016). The median postoperative survival was lower in the HI group (7.6 years [CI 6.0-11.2] vs. 8.9 [CI 6.9-10.3]). CONCLUSIONS: HI was associated with reduced median postoperative survival, greater readmission rate, and increased risk of SSI following AAA repair.





Questions about the HSR&D website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.