EXCESS Mortality Rates in Shorter Time Period after Gulf War vs Vietnam War
In the publication just available on pubmed entitled, A systematic review of post-deployment injury-related mortality among military personnel deployed to conflict zones. Authors Knapik JJ,etal. from the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA show the following results:
Compared with non-conflict-zone veterans, injury-related mortality was elevated for veterans serving in Vietnam during 9 to 18 years of follow-up. Similarly, injury-related mortality was elevated for veterans serving in the Persian Gulf War during 3 to 8 years of follow-up. Much of the excess mortality among conflict-zone veterans was associated with motor vehicle events.
The authors state the following hypotheses to account for the excess mortality in conflict-zone veterans included post-traumatic stress, coping behaviors such as substance abuse, ill-defined diseases and symptoms, lower survivability in injury events due to conflict-zone comorbidities, altered perceptions of risk, and/or selection processes leading to the deployment of individuals who were risk-takers.
The authors recommend further research on the etiology of the excess mortality in conflict-zone veterans.—Full ABSTRACT from pubmed in the Journal BMC Public Health follows:
BMC Public Health. 2009 Jul 13;9:231.
A systematic review of post-deployment injury-related mortality among military personnel deployed to conflict zones.Knapik JJ, Marin RE, Grier TL, Jones BH. US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA. [email protected]
BACKGROUND: This paper reports on a systematic review of the literature on the post-conflict injury-related mortality of service members who deployed to conflict zones.
METHODS: Literature databases, reference lists of articles, agencies, investigators, and other sources were examined to find studies comparing injury-related mortality of military veterans who had served in conflict zones with that of contemporary veterans who had not served in conflict zones. Injury-related mortality was defined as a cause of death indicated by International Classification of Diseases E-codes E800 to E999 (external causes) or subgroupings within this range of codes.
RESULTS: Twenty studies met the review criteria; all involved veterans serving during either the Vietnam or Persian Gulf conflict. Meta-analysis indicated that, compared with non-conflict-zone veterans, injury-related mortality was elevated for veterans serving in Vietnam (summary mortality rate ratio (SMRR) = 1.26, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.08-1.46) during 9 to 18 years of follow-up. Similarly, injury-related mortality was elevated for veterans serving in the Persian Gulf War (SMRR = 1.26, 95%CI = 1.16-1.37) during 3 to 8 years of follow-up. Much of the excess mortality among conflict-zone veterans was associated with motor vehicle events.
The excess mortality decreased over time. Hypotheses to account for the excess mortality in conflict-zone veterans included post-traumatic stress, coping behaviors such as substance abuse, ill-defined diseases and symptoms, lower survivability in injury events due to conflict-zone comorbidities, altered perceptions of risk, and/or selection processes leading to the deployment of individuals who were risk-takers.
CONCLUSION: Further research on the etiology of the excess mortality in conflict-zone veterans is warranted to develop appropriate interventions.
PMID: 19594931 [PubMed – in process]
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