title: Late-life coronary heart disease mortality of Finnish war veterans in the TAMRISK study, a 28-year follow-up.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wartime stress has been associated with increased late-life mortality of all causes of death. We evaluated whether wounded Finnish World War II veterans who were alive at the age of 55 have increased long-term coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Health survey data were recorded in 1980 from 667 men, aged 55 years. Of them 102 had been wounded or injured in action during 1939-1945. The remaining participants served as the comparison group. The death certificates during a 28-year follow-up were obtained from the national statistics centre. Statistical comparisons were done by Cox proportional hazard regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were altogether 140 deaths from CHD. In men who had been wounded or injured in action the crude CHD mortality rate per 10,000 population was 2843, while in the comparison group the corresponding figure was 1961. Men who had been wounded or injured in action were 1.7 times (95% CI 1.1-2.5; p = 0.01) more likely to die from CHD than the comparison group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physical trauma at young adulthood may extend to lifelong effects on health. This study suggests that being physically wounded or injured in war may lead to increased CHD mortality in late adulthood in a Finnish population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Tampere Medical School, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kunnas
authors.forename: Tiina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Solakivi
authors.forename: Jaana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Renko
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalela
authors.forename: Seppo T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Nikkari
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D004522:Educational Status; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014857:Warfare; D044465:White People; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*