What the Board granted and denied, condition by condition

We indexed 1,501,587 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 60 times and the Board decided at least 15 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page. A page states a percentage only once the Board has decided 20 of them. Below that it shows how many were decided and no percentage, because a rate on a handful of decisions reads as precision it does not have.

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 3,561 issues paired, 51 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 1,317 issues paired, 30 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 1,785 issues paired, 43 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 2,599 issues paired, 60 percent granted of the ones decided

• Sleep apnea secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 3,123 issues paired, 54 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 1,181 issues paired, 39 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 1,228 issues paired, 39 percent granted of the ones decided

• Eye conditions secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 926 issues paired, 37 percent granted of the ones decided

• Knee conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 896 issues paired, 50 percent granted of the ones decided

• Knee conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 1,086 issues paired, 27 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 1,099 issues paired, 30 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 715 issues paired, 41 percent granted of the ones decided

• Erectile dysfunction secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 747 issues paired, 47 percent granted of the ones decided

• Knee conditions secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 847 issues paired, 39 percent granted of the ones decided

• Neck conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 787 issues paired, 23 percent granted of the ones decided

• Arthritis secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 589 issues paired, 51 percent granted of the ones decided

• Sleep apnea secondary to depression or anxiety

  Since 2019: 1,481 issues paired, 58 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 511 issues paired, 70 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 502 issues paired, 48 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to depression or anxiety

  Since 2019: 646 issues paired, 45 percent granted of the ones decided

• Ankle conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 428 issues paired, 30 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 179 issues paired, 50 percent granted of the ones decided

• Kidney conditions secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 519 issues paired, 42 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 451 issues paired, 37 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 235 issues paired, 37 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 445 issues paired, 34 percent granted of the ones decided

• Erectile dysfunction secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 459 issues paired, 64 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 359 issues paired, 35 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to neck conditions

  Since 2019: 679 issues paired, 61 percent granted of the ones decided

• Arthritis secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 305 issues paired, 65 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 452 issues paired, 33 percent granted of the ones decided

• Ankle conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 338 issues paired, 48 percent granted of the ones decided

• Arthritis secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 333 issues paired, 42 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to arthritis

  Since 2019: 275 issues paired, 58 percent granted of the ones decided

• GERD secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 360 issues paired, 37 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 319 issues paired, 57 percent granted of the ones decided

• Shoulder conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 408 issues paired, 10 percent granted of the ones decided

• High blood pressure secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 352 issues paired, 24 percent granted of the ones decided

• Migraines secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 456 issues paired, 77 percent granted of the ones decided

• Vertigo secondary to hearing loss

  Since 2019: 335 issues paired, 21 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to arthritis

  Since 2019: 300 issues paired, 45 percent granted of the ones decided

• Vertigo secondary to tinnitus

  Since 2019: 337 issues paired, 26 percent granted of the ones decided

• Shoulder conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 235 issues paired, 31 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 211 issues paired, 47 percent granted of the ones decided

• Sleep apnea secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 378 issues paired, 34 percent granted of the ones decided

• Neck conditions secondary to shoulder conditions

  Since 2019: 304 issues paired, 19 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to high blood pressure

  Since 2019: 271 issues paired, 71 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to tinnitus

  Since 2019: 275 issues paired, 59 percent granted of the ones decided

• Erectile dysfunction secondary to prostate conditions

  Since 2019: 372 issues paired, 58 percent granted of the ones decided

• Migraines secondary to neck conditions

  Since 2019: 309 issues paired, 62 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.