Board decisions

Knee conditions secondary to lower back conditions

By Hector K, Air Force veteranUpdated September 2026 from 1,501,587 Board decisions

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, knee conditions appeared as secondary to lower back conditions in 1,086 issues. The Board granted 79, denied 212, and sent 758 back for more work. Of the ones it decided, it granted 27 percent.

Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.

Since 2019

79granted
212denied
758sent back
27 percentgranted, of the ones decided

13 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 21 were dismissed or withdrawn. 3 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 2,994 issues, 25 percent granted of the ones decided, and 62 percent sent back for more work.

What a doctor would have to find

A claim here needs a doctor to find that the back changed how you walk, which led to or worsened the second condition. It is not a finding of ours. The counts above show how the Board answered, one claim at a time. Whether it is true in your case is a question for your doctor.

What a secondary claim needs

In a secondary claim, the Board reads for three things. A diagnosis of the second condition. A first condition that is already service connected. And a medical opinion that says the first condition led to the second, or made it worse, and explains why. The rule itself is shorter than that. Here is the part that matters.

… disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected.

38 CFR 3.310(a), from the middle of its first sentence

Proximately due to means the first condition led to the second. The other route is aggravation, where the first condition made the second worse. The rule for that route is in the next paragraph of the same section, and it says increase in severity.

Any increase in severity of a nonservice-connected disease or injury that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury, and not due to the natural progress of the nonservice-connected disease, will be service connected.

38 CFR 3.310(b), first sentence

That paragraph goes on to say the VA will not concede aggravation without a baseline. A baseline is medical evidence of how bad the second condition was before the first one started making it worse, or the earliest record after that and before the evidence of how bad it is now. If you claim aggravation, find the earliest record you have of the second condition, from either window. Without a baseline from one of them, the VA will not concede aggravation. The other route, that the first condition led to the second, does not need a baseline.

A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.

Recent decisions on these claims

A past Board decision binds only the case it decided, and the Board decides each case on its own facts. Another veteran's decision is not evidence about your condition. Read these to see what evidence the Board weighed, so you know what to gather for your own claim.

The Knee Pack

Everything the Board has decided about knee conditions, in one file. How the VA rates it, what gets claimed with it and how often each one was granted, and the decisions to read yourself. No account and nothing to fill in.

See what is in it

$15, one time. Add as many conditions as you need and pay once.

Keep reading

Lower back

The first condition. Since 2019: 105,835 issues, 38 percent granted of the ones decided

Knee

The second condition. Since 2019: 136,716 issues, 38 percent granted of the ones decided

Lower back conditions secondary to knee conditions

The other way round. 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

Hip conditions secondary to lower back conditions

Since 2019: 1,099 issues paired, 30 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

Depression or anxiety secondary to lower back conditions

Since 2019: 511 issues paired, 70 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

Sources

We count an issue in a pair when its text says one condition is secondary to the other and we can place both in a condition 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. This page is education, not legal advice. Rules quoted are from 38 CFR Parts 3 and 4, as published on the government's eCFR website. Board decisions are public records, linked at their source.