Military service, exposure to trauma, and health in older adulthood: An analysis of northern vietnamese survivors of the vietnam war

K. Korinek and B. Teerawichitchainan

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 8, 1478-1487

Abstract: Objectives. We sought to better understand the association between early life exposure to war and trauma and older adult health status in a developing setting. Methods. We analyzed data of 405 Vietnamese men and women in 1 northern Vietnam commune who entered early adulthood during the Vietnam War and who are now entering late adulthood (i.e., ages 55 years and older in 2010). Results. The toll of war's trauma in the aging northern Vietnamese population was perceptible in the association between exposure to war trauma and various measures of physical health, including negative self-reported health and somatic symptoms. Killing another person and being exposed to toxic substances in warfare was especially detrimental to health in older adulthood. War traumas were likely implicated more strongly as determinants of late adulthood health in men than in women. The weak association between trauma exposure and reported depressive symptoms raised questions about measuring mental health. Conclusions. Military service and war trauma were important determinants of older adult health beyond the US context, given the widespread waging of war and concentration of recent armed conflicts within developing societies.

Keywords: aged; article; depression; female; health status; human; male; mental health; middle aged; psychological aspect; soldier; statistical model; statistics; survivor; Viet Nam; war, Aged; Depression; Female; Health Status; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Military Personnel; Survivors; Vietnam; Vietnam Conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2014.301925

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.301925_2

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301925

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().