Vietnam veterans had higher death rates in the first five years after discharge than veterans not serving in Vietnam, a U.S. study found.
Tegan K. Catlin Boehmer of the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga., found excess mortality among Vietnam veterans was limited to the first five years after discharge from active duty and resulted from an increase in external causes of death, such as motor vehicle collision-related deaths, suicides and homicides.
The study found Vietnam veterans had a 7 percent higher death rate -- 838 deaths, 3.01 deaths per 1,000 person-years -- compared to other veterans -- 746 deaths, 2.79 deaths per 1,000 person-years.
"Vietnam veterans continued to experience higher mortality than non-Vietnam veterans from unintentional poisonings and drug-related causes," the researchers wrote in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
"Death rates from disease-related chronic conditions, including cancers and circulatory system diseases, did not differ between Vietnam veterans and their peers, despite the increasing age of the cohort, average age, 53 years, and the longer follow up, average, 30 years."
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
