The impact of service-connected disability (SCD) on the U.S. veteran mortality rate is the subject of a presentation by a trio of Syracuse University professors at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in Philadelphia.

Scott Landes, Andrew London and Janet Wilmoth, professors of sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will present a paper on the subject on Aug. 11. They will elaborate on how veterans with SCD have poorer morbidity and mortality outcomes, and will show the extent to which SCD is associated with lower socioeconomic status.

“Although past research has documented a higher overall mortality risk among veterans compared to non-veterans, no study until now has considered the contribution of SCD to veteran-non-veteran mortality differentials,” says Landes, the paper’s lead author. “Given that SCD signifies a disability related to U.S. military service, we believe it is important to document if and how SCD is related to inequalities across the life course, including mortality. Our findings should be of wide interest, especially to those concerned about the well-being of veterans and the state of military-veteran health care.”

Read more in the SU News article "Sociologists Link Service-Connected Disability to Veteran Mortality Disadvantage," written by Rob Enslin.

08/16/18