IRAQ WAR CLINICIAN GUIDE
Iraq War Clinician's Guide - Network Of Care
Iraq War Clinician's Guide - Network Of Care
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lraa War Clinician Guide 176 Appendix I<br />
depressive reactions, and psychoticlike states. Formal diagnostic criteria, however,<br />
do not exist.<br />
CSRs may not necessarily share many features with PTSD, but they are<br />
strongly predictive of subsequent MSD. Among Israeli soldiers who fought in<br />
the 1982 Lebanon War, IrGD prevalence was dramatically higher among those<br />
who had sustained a CSR mmparcd with soldiers who had notP Ln the CSR<br />
group, prevalence estimates were 62% 1 year after the war, 56% 2 years after,<br />
and 43% 3 years aftec l-, 2-, and 3-year estimates for the nonCSR group, which<br />
was comparable to the CSR group in both demographic background and warzone<br />
exposure, were 14% 17%, and 11%.<br />
PREVALENCE<br />
Estinlates of 1?SD prevalence among military veterans vary markedly as a<br />
function of the sample and methods used, even in the same war cohort. Few<br />
studies of military veterans have used the rigorous sampling methods necessary<br />
to derive epidemiolop,inlly sound prevalence estimates.<br />
Vletnam and Vietnam-Era Veterans<br />
1%e most methodologically adequate study of F13D in the Viebanl cohort<br />
estimated the current prevalence in male Vietnam veterans to be just over 15%P<br />
This shdy, known as the National Viebam Veterans Readjustment Study<br />
(NVVa), also estimated the current prevalence of PTSD in female Vietnam<br />
veterans to be 8.5%; current estimates for veterans who served outside of the<br />
Viemam theater were 2.5% in men and 1.1% in women. Current lYI3D was<br />
dramatically higher in men and women with high war-zone exposure: 35.8%in<br />
men and 17.5% in women. Lrfetime MSD among Vietnam veterans was estimated<br />
to be 30.9% in men and 26.9% in women.<br />
In the NWRS. currcnt PTSD was hieher " amone black; 127.9%) . and Hisoanits<br />
(20.6%). Ih;ln among wl,iles (13 i%).Bmause in.lividuaI$ exposed to high war<br />
?one strcs.5 n.cro ~nuil,(nor.! likely tu drvvlop PTSD rhan ihoje cxpoxd to lu~v<br />
or nlodrrale stres avd 12c1111*1 black and tllspanic reteritwi aerc otuch mure<br />
likely to have had higher war-ronc exposure, ilwas n%essary to control for this<br />
vaiiable. It also was necessary to control for predisposing factors that might<br />
confound ethnicitv , (such . as childlrood and familv backeround factors. . . orcmililay<br />
fa~tors, and nlill~ory factors). \Vhen this mu~ti\,a;~lte analysis tvas p'rformed,<br />
the increased prev~lcncc among blacks !%,as ckp1ainr.d by their grc.,ter<br />
amount of combat exposure rrlat~vc to\\htres. in ronlral, the diffcrrnrehrt~vwn<br />
whites and Hispanic; was only partially explained by increased cxposure anlong<br />
Hispanin.<br />
An important aspect of Kulka et al's" study is that they estimated the<br />
prevalence of partial PTSD, a subdiagnostic constellation of symptoms that was<br />
associated lvitlr signifirant impainnent, e.g., having the suflicient number of B<br />
(re-experiencing) and D (hyperarousal) symptoms, an insufficient number of C<br />
(avoidance/numbing) synrptoms, and cotnorbid alcohol abuse or dependence<br />
(\rlliclr might by intcrpreled as rclvted to the C symptom cluster) (as per DSM-<br />
Ill-R). Among male theater veterans, lifctime and current prevalence of partial<br />
P'ISD were 22.5% and 11.1%; conrparable estimates for fenmle theater veterans<br />
were 21.2% and 7.8%. Kulkn et al note that the combined full and partial lifetime<br />
P P<br />
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS<br />
NATIONAL CENTER FOR PTSD