- Advise patients who ask that this study proposes a lower prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among Vietnam veterans than did earlier studies.
- Advise that the proportion who suffered war-related PTSD was still substantial and about 10% of veterans continued to have symptoms as long as 11 or 12 years after the war's end.
NEW YORK, Aug. 21 -- The widely cited estimate that one in three Vietnam veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is too high, but the psychiatric toll on soldiers was still substantial, according to a study here.
Taking into account new data, about 18.7% of veterans had developed war-related PTSD during their lifetimes and 9.1% were suffering from the disorder 11 to 12 years after the war ended, Bruce Dohrenwend, Ph.D., of Columbia University, and colleagues, reported in the Aug. 18 issue of Science
The earlier estimate implied that the "Vietnam War took a severe psychological toll on U.S. veterans," the researchers said, adding that "our results provide compelling reasons to take this message seriously."
The debate over the psychological effects of a "war without fronts," such as Vietnam or the current conflict in Iraq, began in 1988, when the CDC reported lifetime PTSD rates of 14.7% and said 2.2% of vets had PTSD 11 to 12 years after the end of the Vietnam war.
