Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Feb 27, 2025
Date Accepted: May 5, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Development and Implementation of the Women’s Health Addendum: Program Evaluation Among Women Veterans with Military Environmental Exposures
ABSTRACT
Background:
The number of women in the armed forces has steadily increased across all branches, even as the overall size of the military remains stable. The population of women Veterans (WVs) is also expanding. The existing literature has extensively reported the impact of military environmental exposures (MEE) on adverse physical and mental health outcomes in service members and Veterans; however, most of these studies focus on the experiences of men. In response to the growing need to address women-specific health care concerns, particularly women with MEE, the Women’s Operational Military Exposure Network Center of Excellent (WOMEN CoE) developed the Women’s Health Addendum (WHA).
Objective:
The primary objective of this project is to: (1) describe the development and implementation of a comprehensive health questionnaire for WVs; (2) systematically describe and characterize the health conditions of women seeking care for MEE-related health concerns; and (3) utilize findings to inform clinic policies and develop targeted programs.
Methods:
The WHA was introduced by the WOMEN CoE to assess the prevalence of health conditions that are female-specific, or disproportionally impact WVs, examine the relationship between these health conditions and MEEs; and utilize findings to improve care. The WHA was developed through an iterative process, incorporating literature review, Veteran and clinician feedback, and clinical expertise. It consists of 81 questions across seven categories related to health conditions across the life span. The WHA was implemented in two phases and descriptive findings are presented here.
Results:
A total of 63 WVs participated in the program evaluation from October 2022 – April 2024. Several women’s health conditions were reported, with approximately 97% of women reporting at least one health condition and 87% reporting three or more. Among respondents, the most prevalent conditions included sexual dysfunction (69.70%), urinary incontinence (58.93%), pelvic floor dysfunction (52.40%), and pregnancy loss (44.44%). Overall, more than 40% of conditions were related to urinary health and pelvic floor dysfunction.
Conclusions:
Findings highlight the need for services related to women’s health, especially for this cohort of WVs with MEE concerns seen at a tertiary care center. Future efforts to evaluate further are underway. Clinical Trial: NA
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