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Background: The quality of end-of-life (EOL) care at Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC) has improved. To date, however, the quality and outcomes of end-of-life care delivered to women veterans have not been examined.

Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate gender differences in the quality of EOL care received by patients in VAMCs nationwide.

Design: The study was conducted via retrospective medical chart review and telephone survey with next of kin of recently deceased inpatients.

Setting/subjects: The chart review included records for all patients who died in acute and long-term care units in 145 VAMCs nationwide (n=36,618). For the survey, the documented next of kin were invited to respond on behalf of the deceased veteran; a total of 25,638 next of kin completed the survey.

Measurements: Chart review measures included five indicators of optimal end-of-life care. Bereaved family survey …