|
 Up to one in five women who served in the U.S. military during the
1960s and 1970s experienced PTSD at some point in their lives and
many are still living with the condition, researchers found.
"We never expected the PTSD prevalence to be so high in those women
who served in (Vietnam) — especially 40 years after the war ended,"
said lead author Kathryn Magruder, of the Johnson Veterans Affairs
Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
Magruder and her colleagues write in JAMA Psychiatry that PTSD was
the signature illness for men who served in Vietnam, but less is
known about its effect on women's health.
They add that between 5,000 and 7,500 American women served with the
U.S. military in Vietnam, at least 2,000 served on bases in the
region and 250,000 were stationed in the U.S.
PTSD develops after terrifying ordeals involving physical harm or
the threat of physical harm, according to the U.S. National
Institutes of Health. Symptoms include re-experiencing events,
avoiding certain situations and being tense and easily startled.
For the new study, the researchers used data collected from 1,956
women who served in Vietnam, 657 who served near Vietnam and 1,606
who served in the U.S. between 1965 and 1973.
The women's average age was 22 when they enlisted in 1964 and 1965,
and near 70 when researchers surveyed them by mail or phone in 2011
and 2012.
Most of the participants who served in Vietnam and the U.S. were
members of the Army, and most of those who served in the region were
in the Air Force. More than half of the women in all categories were
nurses during the war.
About 20 percent of the women who served in Vietnam met the criteria
for PTSD at some point in their lives, compared to about 12 percent
of those who served near Vietnam and about 14 percent who served in
the U.S.
About 16 percent of women who served in Vietnam still met the
criteria for PTSD at the time of the surveys, compared to about 8
percent of women who had served near Vietnam and about 9 percent who
had served in the U.S.
The results differ from a previous 15 percent lifetime estimate of
PTSD for female Vietnam-era veterans, the study authors point out,
but differences in the tools used to evaluate the participants
explain that gap.
[to top of second column] |
The researchers also found that few cases of PTSD started before the
women joined the military.
For all the types of traumatic wartime experiences the researchers
asked about, like danger, death and environment-related stress,
women who served in Vietnam reported the highest rates of exposure.
"It was these experiences — especially sexual harassment and
performance pressures — that explained their higher levels of PTSD,"
Magruder told Reuters Health by email.
Sexual harassment, she said, should not be an inevitable war zone
experience.
"We need to work hard to change military culture so that . . .
military sexual harassment is not a PTSD risk factor for future
generations."
There is another message in the study for doctors, she added. They
should not forget to ask all women if they've been in the armed
services and ask about their military experiences.
"They should be vigilant to symptoms of PTSD - even in aging women
veterans - and encourage them to seek appropriate treatment if
warranted," Magruder said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1NnO3iq JAMA Psychiatry, online October 7,
2015.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
