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Science 18 August 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5789, p. 888
DOI: 10.1126/science.313.5789.888g
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This Week in Science
The magnitude of the Vietnam War's psychological toll on U.S. soldiers has been a subject of heated debate since 1988, when two major government-funded studies reported widely divergent rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam veterans. Interest in this question has intensified as comparisons are now being made between the Vietnam War and the ongoing conflict in Iraq. Dohrenwend et al. (p. 978; see Perspective by McNally) have reexamined PTSD rates in Vietnam War veterans using improved diagnostic methods and military records (rather than self-reports) to document exposure to war zone stress. Their analysis revealed a lifetime PTSD rate of 18.7%, in between the two previous estimates (of 30.9% and 14.7%). An even stronger dose-response relation seen between war-related stress exposure and PTSD confirms that the war's psychological toll was real and substantial.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
