Service utilization among compensation-seeking veterans

To examine the relationship between compensation-seeking status, symptom reporting, and health care utilization among combat veterans presenting for a Posttraumatic Stress disorder (PTSD) evaluation. Archival data for 68 veterans was drawn from electronic medical records for which compensation-seeking status was available. Consistent with previous findings, self-reports of distress and validity scale indices on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) were higher among compensation-seeking (CS) veterans than noncompensation-seeking (NCS) veterans despite a lack of difference in actual PTSD diagnoses. However, no significant differences emerged between these two groups on healthcare utilization indices. Although exploratory analyses did not yield significant group differences on various healthcare indices, there was a trend for CS veterans to use PTSD services more, suggesting the need to further explore utilization patterns among these groups.