Early-Life War Exposure and Later-Life Frailty Among Older Adults in Vietnam: Does War Hasten Aging?

Children of war: The long-run effects of large-scale physical destruction and warfare on children

Zachary Zimmer, Kim Korinek, Yvette Young, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan and Tran Khanh Toan

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2022, vol. 77, issue 9, 1674-1685

Abstract: ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the nature and degree of association between exposure to potentially traumatic wartime experiences in early life, such as living in a heavily bombed region or witnessing death firsthand, and later-life frailty.MethodThe Vietnam Health and Aging Study included war survivors in Vietnam, 60+, who completed a survey and health exam between May and August 2018. Latent class analysis (LCA) is used to construct classes exposed to similar numbers and types of wartime experiences. Frailty is measured using a deficit accumulation approach that proxies biological aging. Fractional logit regression associates latent classes with frailty scores. Coefficients are used to calculate predicted frailty scores and expected age at which specific levels of frailty are reached across wartime exposure classes.ResultsLCA yields 9 unique wartime exposure classes, ranging from extreme exposure to nonexposed. Higher frailty is found among those with more heavy/severe exposures with a combination of certain types of experiences, including intense bombing, witnessing death firsthand, having experienced sleep disruptions during wartime, and having feared for one’s life during war. The difference in frailty-associated aging between the most and least affected individuals is more than 18 years.DiscussionWar trauma hastens aging and warrants greater attention toward long-term implications of war on health among vast postconflict populations across the globe.

Keywords: Armed conflict; Biological aging; Developing countries; Latent class analysis; Trauma (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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