Medical and Non-Medical Predictors of Disability Discharge Disposition for Navy Personnel with a Back Problem: A Focus on Entitlement

摘要

The purpose of the present study was to examine the type of medical disability awarded to active-duty, enlisted Navy personnel with a back problem, in relation to length of service, paygrade, severity of back problem, and secondary diagnosis. That focus was intended to clarify the extent to which disability dispositions can be understood in terms of formal attributions of entitlement as well as the impact of medical and non-medical factors on the cost of temporary retirement disability compensation to Navy personnel with a back problem. The sample consisted of all incidences of Physical Evaluation (PE) Board dispositions of either severance pay or temporary disability retirement between 1974 and 1983, inclusive. These incidences represented only active-duty, enlisted Navy personnel who had been hospitalized for a back problem as the primary diagnosis of complaint. Results indicated that medical discharge disposition was related primarily to length of service and implications for understanding attributions of entitlement and total costs of a medical problem. (AW)