title: A twin study of the effects of the Vietnam conflict on alcohol drinking patterns.
abstract: This study examines the association between military service in Southeast Asia and alcohol drinking patterns in 2,169 male-male monozygotic twin pairs who both served on active military duty during the Vietnam era (1965-75). Data on alcohol drinking were collected in 1987 by mail and telephone interview. The alcohol drinking measures include three indicators of abstention (lifetime abstainer, lifetime non-regular drinker, and current abstainer) and two indicators of consumption (average daily ethanol consumption and high consumption). In unadjusted and co-twin adjusted analyses, neither service in Southeast Asia nor combat exposure was significantly associated with any measure of abstention. In the co-twin adjusted analysis, there was no association of Southeast Asia service and combat exposure with average daily ethanol consumption. After adjustment for co-twin effects, 4.0 percent of non-Southeast Asia veterans were high consumers compared to 6.7 percent of Southeast Asia veterans who served in high combat. We conclude that prior military service in a war zone has a relatively modest long-term effect on the alcohol drinking patterns of male veterans.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Chicago 60680.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Eisen
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: True
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D002160:Cambodia; D006801:Humans; D007812:Laos; D008297:Male; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013695:Temperance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014427:Twins; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans; D014744:Vietnam