Trauma-induced weight loss and cognitive deficits among former prisoners of war.
Former prisoners of war (POWs) from the Korean Conflict and WWII reporting confinement weight losses of greater than 35% (n = 60) and less than or equal to 35% (n = 113) and non-POW combat veterans (n = 50) were compared on WAIS-R and Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) Logical Memory indices. High weight-loss POWs performed more poorly than combat veterans on Performance IQ, Arithmetic, Similarities, and Picture Completion subtests, Witkin-Goodenough Attention-Concentration Factor, and WMS Immediate and Delayed Recall and more poorly than low weight-loss POWs on Arithmetic, Attention-Concentration Factor, and the WMS immediate memory measure. Low weight-loss POWs and combat veterans differed only on WMS immediate memory. Findings support the Thygesen, Hermann, and Willanger (1970) hypothesis that severity of POW confinement stress reflected by trauma-induced weight loss is predictive of long-term compromise in cognitive performance.
Sutker
P B
PB
Psychology Service, VA Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70146.
Galina
Z H
ZH
West
J A
JA
Allain
A N
AN
D000368:Aged; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010556:Personality Tests; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D014888:Wechsler Scales; D015431:Weight Loss