What question did this study set out to answer?

To determine the prevalence, long-term course, and psychiatric comorbidities of war-zone posttraumatic stress disorder in a nationally representative cohort across a 25-year interval.

July 22, 2015JAMA Psychiatry

Course of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 40 Years After the Vietnam War

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To determine the prevalence, long-term course, and psychiatric comorbidities of war-zone posttraumatic stress disorder in a nationally representative cohort across a 25-year interval.
Followed up a nationally representative cohort of Vietnam theater veterans from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, enrolling 1,450 of 1,839 surviving participants (78.8%) between July 2012 and May 2013.
Administered health questionnaires (n=1,409), telephone interviews (n=1,279), and telephone clinical diagnostic interviews (n=400).
Evaluated PTSD and comorbidity using the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, PCL-5+, CAPS-5, and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.
Current CAPS-5 PTSD prevalence was 4.5% (95% CI, 1.7%-7.3%) for male and 6.1% (95% CI, 1.8%-10.3%) for female theater veterans, rising to 10.8% (95% CI, 6.5%-15.1%) and 8.7% (95% CI, 3.8%-13.6%) when including subthreshold PTSD.
Comorbid major depressive disorder occurred in 36.7% (95% CI, 6.2%-67.2%) of theater veterans with current war-zone PTSD.
Over the 25-year assessment interval, 16.0% of theater veterans showed meaningful symptom worsening (>20-point increase on the Mississippi Scale), whereas 7.6% experienced meaningful improvement (>20-point decrease).

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Implication

Longitudinal cohort study uncovers persistent posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam War veterans, highlighting an enduring need for long-term psychiatric care.

Cite This Study

Marmar et al. (2015) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a7e4bfa7ddcd43fa24f9a71 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0803

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Implication

Longitudinal cohort study uncovers persistent posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam War veterans, highlighting an enduring need for long-term psychiatric care.

Course of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 40 Years After the Vietnam War

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Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Course of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 40 Years After the Vietnam War

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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