Continuing controversy over the psychological risks of Vietnam for U.S. veterans.
In 1988, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) reported 30.9% lifetime and 15.2% current rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a strong dose/response relationship with retrospective reports of combat exposure. Skeptics argued that recall bias and other flaws inflated the results. Using a new record-based exposure measure and diagnoses in an NVVRS subsample, the authors addressed this controversy in a recent issue of Science (B. P. Dohrenwend et al., 2006). They found little evidence of falsification, an even stronger dose/response relationship and, when fully adjusted for impairment and evidence of exposure, 18.7% onset and 9.1% current rates of war-related PTSD. The fact that these rates are lower than the original NVVRS rates has stimulated continuing controversy that has tended to obscure the more important implications of the study's results.
Dohrenwend
Bruce P
BP
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. dohrenw@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu
Turner
J Blake
JB
Turse
Nicholas A
NA
Adams
Ben G
BG
Koenen
Karestan C
KC
Marshall
Randall
R
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D015982:Bias; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012650:Self Disclosure; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D047829:Vietnam Conflict