Psychiatric Casualties among U.S. Marines in Vietnam.
Abstract
The identification of factors associated with psychiatric casualties is critical both for combat casualty care and medical resource management, and the safeguarding of the health and well-being of combat personnel long after hostilities have ceased. This paper examines the psychiatric casualties among Marine Corps personnel in Vietnam between 1965 and 1972. The Marine Corps Inpatient Medical Data File was searched for all first hospital admissions with a diagnosis of mental disorder or combat-related wounds and injuries. The relative risk of a first hospitalization for a psychiatric diagnosis was determined using crude incidence rates based on the population of Marine Corps personnel who served in Vietnam, and ratios of psychiatric casualties to wounded-in-action. The crude rates of psychiatric disorders were found to be much higher than those reported in other studies and approximated the casualty rate among U.S. combat troops in Korea (34.3 per 1,000). The relative risk of becoming a psychiatric casualty appeared to increase with age and length of service. Support personnel had much higher psychiatric casualty: wounded-in-action (PC:WIA) ratios than front line infantry or artillery personnel. The years of greatest combat activity also displayed the smallest PC:WIA ratios for the study period. Keywords: Epidemiology; battle fatigue; personality disorders. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA167347
Entities
People
- L. A. Palinkas
- P. Coben
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center