Background:
The long-term psychiatric sequelae of war service have not been assessed for Australian veterans in a cohort study.
Methods:
An epidemiologic cohort study was conducted with a randomly selected sample of 1000 Australian Army Vietnam veterans who were first assessed in 1991–1993 and again in 2005–2006 using standardized psychiatric assessment instruments (SCID and Mississippi in 1991–1993 and CAPS and Composite International Diagnostic Interview in 2005–2006). Personal interviews were conducted across Australia.
Results:
The lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had moved from approximately 20% in 1991–1993 to more than 50% in 2005–2006, with smaller prevalence of current (1 month) PTSD. This was often accompanied by long-term use of psychoactive medications, while use of clinical PTSD programmes was also helpful. The course of PTSD was found to be variable: for some, symptoms were evident soon after return, for others, later life events acted as triggers for more recent coping breakdown. Alcohol overuse remains veterans' biggest problem.
Conclusion:
PTSD is a chronic condition that is clearly evident in former soldiers and whose life course is variable.
