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Veterans Law

Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs): Evidence for Your VA Disability Claim

April Donahower

June 24, 2020

Updated: August 19, 2026

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    CCK Law: Our Vital Role in Veterans Law

    As part of VA’s duty to assist claimants in gathering information helpful for their disability cases, VA often conducts examinations called Compensation and Pension (C&P) exams. To create a more uniform process, VA developed Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs).

    Key points of this article include:

    • DBQs are downloadable forms veterans can use to help speed up the processing of VA disability claims.
    • Veterans can fill out DBQs themselves or request to have their private or VA health care provider fill it out on their behalf.
    • Some DBQs are for a single condition while others are for a category of related conditions, such as heart conditions.

    Who We Are: Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick (CCK Law) has argued many of the cases that have defined and clarified veterans disability law. CCK Law attorneys serve in leadership positions throughout the legal community and have posted more than 2,500 blogs and 1,100 videos about veterans benefits.

    What Are DBQs?

    Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs) are downloadable forms created for veterans’ use in the evaluation process for VA disability benefits. Specifically, DBQs are intended to speed up the processing of claims for service-connected compensation and give veterans more control over the disability claims process.

    These forms were created to answer questions about important aspects of disability, including:

    • Symptoms
    • Severity
    • Possible causes
    • Relation to other disabilities

    They were also designed to capture information required under the VA Schedule of Disability Ratings found within the Code of Federal Regulations.

    How Do DBQs Work?

    The streamlined DBQ forms use checkboxes and standardized language so that disability evaluations can be made quickly and correctly. Health care providers will “check a box” next to descriptions that most accurately depict the disability in question.

    While veterans were previously able to access these forms, they were not permitted to fill them out themselves. Instead, veterans had the option of visiting a private or VA health care provider who could complete the evaluation on their behalf. When having a private health care provider complete a DBQ, it is important for veterans to:

    1. Access the form online through VA’s website and download it (see changes below);
    2. Have your doctor or health care provider complete the form;
    3. Review their findings and save a copy for your records; and
    4. Submit the form to VA.

    The use of DBQs also provides veterans with an improved means to submit medical evidence to support their claims. It is important for veterans to be honest about their symptoms to ensure that all documentation accurately reflects the level of impairment caused by the claimed condition(s).

    In some cases, a DBQ may even replace a C&P examination entirely. This is helpful because C&P exams often add to the long wait times veterans experience throughout the disability claims process.

    Watch CCK Law Supervising Advocate Michelle DeTore and VA-Accredited Claims Advocates Nicholas Briggs and Frank Padula discuss VA disability benefits questionnaires:

    VA DBQ: Disability Benefits Questionnaire Explained

    What Conditions Are Covered by DBQs?

    There are currently more than 70 DBQs covering a range of medical conditions. Some DBQs are specific to a single condition (e.g., hypertension, arthritis, prostate cancer), but most forms can be used for several related conditions (e.g., heart conditions, kidney conditions). If there is no DBQ for your specific condition, VA will use the DBQ that is the most general and all-encompassing for that category.

    For example, VA is looking for a DBQ that corresponds with your generalized anxiety disorder. There will be three different DBQs under the Psychological category: Eating disorders, PTSD, and mental disorders (other). Since generalized anxiety disorder does not have its own DBQ, you would use the DBQ for mental disorders as it broadly covers the claimed condition.

    What Are the Most Requested DBQs?

    According to data obtained by VA, the most commonly requested DBQs are:

    • Hearing loss and tinnitus – 13.52 percent of total exams requested (118,628 forms)
    • Back (thoracolumbar spine) – 6.24 percent of total exams requested (54,734 forms)
    • Knee and lower leg – 5.39 percent of total exams requested (47,272 forms)
    • Mental disorder – 5.26 percent of total exams requested (46,100 forms)

    Where Can I Find DBQs?

    DBQs can be downloaded from the DBQ page on VA’s website. CCK Law has also committed to hosting these DBQ forms on our site. This is because, in the past, VA has restricted access to their downloadable DBQ forms.

    To mitigate this risk and ensure that veterans always have access to these DBQ forms, they will remain hosted on the CCK Law website for the foreseeable future (see the bottom of this article for the full list of downloadable forms).

    How Can DBQs Help Veterans?

    Publicly available DBQs increase efficiency and may help to expedite the claims process.

    Direct access to these DBQs also allows veterans to request that their own providers, who were often specialized in a particular relevant area of medicine and familiar with the veterans’ medical history and conditions, complete these forms. This allows veterans to submit DBQs in support of their application for benefits, or even with their application for benefits as part of a fully developed claim.

    Submitting these completed DBQs may serve to eliminate months, and often years, many veterans must wait for an exam. They are also particularly useful for veterans living in rural areas or overseas who may experience even longer wait times for exams or greater difficulty traveling the distance required to attend VA exams.

    Why Might a Veteran Not Use a DBQ?

    There may be some instances where it is not possible or would not be beneficial for a veteran to use a DBQ. These forms are not available for every condition that VA rates.

    In some rare instances, a private doctor may refuse to fill out a DBQ for a veteran. This means that a veteran will either need to have another doctor who treats their condition fill out a DBQ or not submit a DBQ.

    CCK Provides Access to DBQs Online

    VA has, in the past, removed these forms from public view because VA believed it had sufficiently expanded its own capacity to conduct these examinations.

    CCK has and will continue to provide DBQs for veterans to access.

    Find DBQ Forms Here

    We make no claims as to how helpful these may be in the outcome of a veteran’s case, nor are we providing advice; we are simply providing access to this resource to allow veterans the greatest choice and control over the VA claims process.

    Want To Learn More? Contact CCK

    We hope this blog helped answer your questions.

    Need personalized assistance? If VA has made any kind of decision related to your claim, then CCK Law may be able to help. Contact us online or at 800-544-9144 for a free case evaluation.

    (As of 2026, federal law prohibits agents and attorneys from charging veterans a fee to file an initial VA claim. In these cases, you will need to find a VA-accredited representative or VSO to assist you.)

    Looking for more information? CCK Law hosts over 2,500 pages and 1,100 videos of free veterans law content. Search our blog or browse our YouTube channel for guides, explainers, and updates on VA benefits topics.

    Stay current. Veterans disability law and VA policy change frequently. Follow CCK Law on social media using the links at the bottom of this page, or subscribe to one of our newsletters for updates tailored to your situation.

    Infographic on most requested DBQ types

    About the Author

    Bio photo of April Donahower

    April joined Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick in August of 2016 as an Associate Attorney. She currently serves as the Appellate Supervisor in our Veterans Law practice. April’s practice focuses on representing disabled veterans before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

    See more about April

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