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Previous research indicates women Veterans have a potentially large, unmet need for alcohol-related care but are under-represented in treatment settings. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with women Veterans' receptivity to a recommendation for alcohol-related care when they present to Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care with alcohol misuse. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from 2012-2013 with 30 women Veterans at two VA facilities who screened positive for alcohol misuse during a primary care visit and discussed their alcohol use with their primary-care provider. Qualitative analyses identified 9 themes women used to describe what affected their receptivity to a recommendation for alcohol-related care (i.e., VA specialty substance use disorder services). The most common themes positively associated with women's receptivity included self-appraisal of their drinking behavior as more severe, the provider's presentation of treatment options, availability of gender-specific services, and worse physical and mental health. The themes identified here may have important implications for the clinical strategies providers can use to present alcohol-related care options to women Veterans to facilitate their use of care. These strategies include educating women about the health effects of alcohol misuse and increasing providers' knowledge about available care options (within the care organization or the community), including the availability of gender-specific services.

Introduction Disparities in treatment exist for non-white and Hispanic patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, but little is known about disparities in the use of staging tests or their underlying causes. Methods Prospective, observational cohort study of 3638 patients with newly diagnosed non-small-cell lung cancer from 4 large, geographically-defined regions, 5 integrated health care systems and 13 VA health care facilities. Results Median age was 69 years, 62% were men, 26% were Hispanic or non-white, 68% graduated high school, 50% had private insurance, and 41% received care in the VA or another integrated health care system. After adjustment, PET use was 13% lower among non-whites and Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77 to 0.97), 13% lower among those with Medicare than those with private insurance (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.99), and 24% lower among those with an elementary school education than those with a graduate degree (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.98). Disparate use of PET was not observed among patients who received care in an integrated health care setting, but the association between race/ethnicity and PET use was similar in magnitude across all other subgroups. Further analysis showed that income, education, insurance and health care setting do not explain the association between race/ethnicity and PET use. Conclusions Hispanics and non-whites with non-small-cell lung cancer are less likely to receive PET imaging. This finding is consistent across subgroups and not explained by differences in income, education, or insurance coverage.