What the Board granted and denied, condition by condition

We indexed 1,479,738 decisions of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, updated September 2026. Pick a condition to see what the Board granted, what it denied, and what showed up in the decisions that went each way.

The counts on these pages cover the decisions from 2019 on. That is when the VA changed the way appeals work, and it has rewritten parts of the rating rules since, so the older decisions were decided under rules that have moved.

By condition

Secondary claims

The 50 pairs that appeared most. A pair gets its own page once it appears at least 100 times and the Board decided at least 20 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page.

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 3,360 issues paired, 51 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 1,262 issues paired, 30 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 1,696 issues paired, 43 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 2,480 issues paired, 60 percent granted of the ones decided

• Sleep apnea secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 2,953 issues paired, 53 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 1,117 issues paired, 40 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 1,165 issues paired, 40 percent granted of the ones decided

• Eye conditions secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 886 issues paired, 36 percent granted of the ones decided

• Knee conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 849 issues paired, 49 percent granted of the ones decided

• Knee conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 1,020 issues paired, 28 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 1,043 issues paired, 30 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 678 issues paired, 42 percent granted of the ones decided

• Erectile dysfunction secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 708 issues paired, 47 percent granted of the ones decided

• Knee conditions secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 798 issues paired, 40 percent granted of the ones decided

• Neck conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 747 issues paired, 23 percent granted of the ones decided

• Arthritis secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 570 issues paired, 51 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 483 issues paired, 71 percent granted of the ones decided

• Sleep apnea secondary to depression or anxiety

  Since 2019: 1,404 issues paired, 57 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 472 issues paired, 47 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to depression or anxiety

  Since 2019: 612 issues paired, 46 percent granted of the ones decided

• Ankle conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 399 issues paired, 30 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 166 issues paired, 48 percent granted of the ones decided

• Kidney conditions secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 492 issues paired, 41 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 426 issues paired, 36 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 221 issues paired, 38 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 429 issues paired, 34 percent granted of the ones decided

• Erectile dysfunction secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 435 issues paired, 65 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 337 issues paired, 35 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to neck conditions

  Since 2019: 646 issues paired, 62 percent granted of the ones decided

• Arthritis secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 290 issues paired, 63 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 425 issues paired, 34 percent granted of the ones decided

• Arthritis secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 316 issues paired, 43 percent granted of the ones decided

• Ankle conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 318 issues paired, 50 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to arthritis

  Since 2019: 258 issues paired, 59 percent granted of the ones decided

• GERD secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 342 issues paired, 38 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 304 issues paired, 56 percent granted of the ones decided

• Shoulder conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 391 issues paired, 10 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 338 issues paired, 25 percent granted of the ones decided

• Migraines secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 434 issues paired, 77 percent granted of the ones decided

• Vertigo secondary to hearing loss

  Since 2019: 317 issues paired, 21 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to arthritis

  Since 2019: 287 issues paired, 46 percent granted of the ones decided

• Vertigo secondary to tinnitus

  Since 2019: 324 issues paired, 25 percent granted of the ones decided

• Shoulder conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 224 issues paired, 30 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 195 issues paired, 44 percent granted of the ones decided

• Sleep apnea secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 360 issues paired, 36 percent granted of the ones decided

• Neck conditions secondary to shoulder conditions

  Since 2019: 298 issues paired, 19 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to high blood pressure

  Since 2019: 252 issues paired, 72 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to tinnitus

  Since 2019: 261 issues paired, 59 percent granted of the ones decided

• Erectile dysfunction secondary to prostate conditions

  Since 2019: 355 issues paired, 58 percent granted of the ones decided

• Migraines secondary to neck conditions

  Since 2019: 296 issues paired, 61 percent granted of the ones decided

How we count

Only the Board of Veterans' Appeals publishes its decisions, with the veteran's name removed. We read every one we could find and sorted each issue into a condition family by its diagnostic code or by the words in the issue. One issue can land in more than one family, so the counts do not add up to one total. A pair is counted when the issue says one condition is secondary to another and both fit a family. Percent granted is of the ones the Board decided, so remands and dismissals are left out. Past decisions do not predict yours.

Each page states the decisions from 2019 on, and says so, unless the Board decided too few of them since 2019 to give a percentage worth reading. Where that happens the page counts every year instead and tells you it has.