BVA decisions by condition
Leg impairment: BVA grant rates and what wins
From 2017 to 2026, the Board of Veterans' Appeals decided a leg impairment issue in 1,045 decisions. It granted the leg impairment issue in 7.9% of them, below the 19.4% grant rate for all conditions, denied it in 35.2%, and remanded it in 57.5%. Counting only decisions on the merits (granted or denied), 18.4% were granted.
Decisions
1,045
2017–2026
Granted
7.9%
All conditions: 19.4%
Granted on the merits
18.4%
Granted ÷ (granted + denied)
Remanded
57.5%
Denied: 35.2%
Leg impairment outcomes by year
| Year | Issues decided | Granted | Denied | Remanded | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 57 | 0.0% | 49.1% | 45.6% | 5.3% |
| 2018 | 115 | 3.5% | 31.3% | 60.9% | 4.3% |
| 2019 | 166 | 4.2% | 28.9% | 66.3% | 0.6% |
| 2020 | 200 | 7.5% | 27.5% | 63.5% | 1.5% |
| 2021 | 181 | 8.8% | 35.4% | 55.2% | 0.6% |
| 2022 | 132 | 4.5% | 28.8% | 66.7% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 165 | 6.7% | 34.5% | 58.8% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 141 | 15.6% | 40.4% | 41.8% | 2.1% |
| 2025 | 109 | 17.4% | 41.3% | 40.4% | 0.9% |
Each row counts issues (each condition the Board decided), so the shares add up to 100%. Other: dismissed, withdrawn or no clear outcome. Years with fewer than 50 issues are left out.
Evidence in granted and denied leg impairment decisions
For each kind of supporting evidence: how often the Board granted the leg impairment issue on the merits when the decision mentioned it, compared with decisions that did not. These are associations, not causes, and evidence is recorded per decision, not per issue.
| In the record | Decisions | Granted when present | When absent | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive nexus opinion | 124 | 45.2% | 13.2% | +32.0 pts |
| Favorable VA exam | 98 | 41.9% | 14.7% | +27.3 pts |
| Treating physician opinion | 45 | 29.0% | 17.6% | +11.4 pts |
| Private medical opinion | 268 | 24.3% | 15.8% | +8.5 pts |
| Claimed as secondary | 294 | 22.2% | 17.5% | +4.8 pts |
| Combat service | 46 | 20.0% | 18.3% | +1.7 pts |
| Lay statement | 880 | 17.7% | 25.0% | −7.3 pts |
- The Board applied the benefit-of-the-doubt rule (38 CFR 3.102) in 61.4% of the decisions that granted leg impairment.
- The Board found the veteran's statements credible in 37.3% of grants and 12.8% of denials.
Negative evidence in the record
An unfavorable exam or a negative nexus opinion often sits in the same record as favorable evidence, and the Board weighs them against each other. So these rows show how often leg impairment was still granted when the record contained the negative item, not that the item helped.
| In the record | Decisions | Granted when present | When absent | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative nexus opinion | 506 | 10.5% | 26.5% | −15.9 pts |
| Unfavorable VA exam | 730 | 14.9% | 31.3% | −16.3 pts |
Why the Board granted or denied leg impairment
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established6
- Caused by the service-connected disability5
- Pain alone can constitute a disability2
- Already at the maximum schedular rating2
- Meets criteria for 10 percent rating under DC 52602
Most common reasons in denials
- No current diagnosis69
- Service records negative or silent41
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim40
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis33
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service27
- Current diagnosis established23
- No nexus to service established5
- Evidence weighs against service connection3
Numbers are decisions that gave the reason. Reasons are short phrases extracted by AI from each decision; common wordings of the same reason are grouped. Benefit of the doubt is reported above.
Recent leg impairment decisions
Granted
Favorable private medical opinion from wife; Opinion linked left leg disability secondary to right knee; Compensatory movement patterns cited
40 percent rating granted; Rated by analogy under DC 5261; Symptoms include pain, swelling, instability, locking, functional impairment
Establishes causal relationship to in-service injury
Denied
Veteran's testimony credible and weighs against claim; No in-service onset; No nexus to service-connected tinnitus
No service records documenting right leg injury; Tibia fracture likely occurred post-service; VA examiner's opinion outweighed lay testimony
No evidence of in-service event, injury, or disease; Service treatment records negative for relevant complaints/findings; Bare assertion of link to service insufficient
Rules that apply to leg impairment claims
- 38 CFR 3.303
Principles of service connection
Read it in VA Law Explorer - 38 CFR 3.310
Secondary service connection and aggravation
Read it in VA Law Explorer - 38 CFR 3.102
Reasonable doubt (benefit of the doubt)
Read it in VA Law Explorer
Research your leg impairment case
Narrow by year, judge, evidence or secondary condition, read the decisions, and export a research memo.
How these numbers are calculated
- Rates count decisions in which the Board decided a leg impairment issue, by the outcome of that issue. Other issues in the same decision can have different outcomes.
- “Granted on the merits” leaves out remands and dismissals. “All conditions” is the grant share across every condition issue in the data.
- The data comes from CaseScribe's AI extraction of public BVA decisions (2017–2026) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.