Fett M J, Nairn J R, Cobbin D M, Adena M A
Am J Epidemiol. 1987 May;125(5):878-84. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114604.
In a cohort of Australian national service conscripts, death rates from International Classification of Diseases, Eighth Revision (ICD-8) cause of death classes for 19,205 veterans of the Vietnam conflict were compared with those of 25,677 veterans who served only in Australia. Comprehensive, clinically reviewed cause of death data were collected and coded to a single ICD-8 three-digit cause of death code by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Over 98% of the deaths among veterans were included in five classes of causes of death. These were neoplasms (14%), diseases of the circulatory system (7%), accidents, poisonings, and violence (external causes) (74%), and diseases of the digestive system and mental disorders (2% each). For the last two classes, chronic abuse of alcohol was a common factor in most deaths among Vietnam veterans. The death rates of Vietnam veterans were statistically significantly higher than those for other veterans for only two classes of causes of death: diseases of the digestive system and external causes. After adjustment for Army corps grouping, this excess was not statistically significant for external causes. There was no statistically significant difference in death rates from neoplasms, nor were deaths from specific neoplasms more frequent among the group that served in Vietnam. While this suggests that service in the Vietnam conflict has not increased death rates from neoplasms among servicemen, the follow-up period, ranging from 9-16 years, is shorter than the latency period for some neoplasms. The study findings provide a measure of support for claims by Australian Vietnam veterans of an increased incidence of stress-related disorders associated with service in the Vietnam conflict.
在一组澳大利亚义务兵中，将19205名越南冲突退伍军人按国际疾病分类第八版（ICD - 8）死因分类的死亡率，与仅在澳大利亚服役的25677名退伍军人的死亡率进行了比较。澳大利亚统计局收集了经过全面临床审查的死因数据，并将其编码为单一的ICD - 8三位数死因代码。退伍军人中超过98%的死亡被纳入五类死因。这些死因分别是肿瘤（14%）、循环系统疾病（7%）、事故、中毒和暴力（外部原因）（74%），以及消化系统疾病和精神障碍（各占2%）。对于最后两类死因，长期酗酒是越南退伍军人大多数死亡的一个常见因素。越南退伍军人的死亡率仅在两类死因上显著高于其他退伍军人：消化系统疾病和外部原因。在对军团分组进行调整后，外部原因导致的这种死亡率过高在统计学上不再显著。肿瘤导致的死亡率没有统计学上的显著差异，在越南服役的退伍军人中，特定肿瘤导致的死亡也没有更频繁。虽然这表明在越南冲突中的服役并没有增加军人患肿瘤的死亡率，但9至16年的随访期短于某些肿瘤的潜伏期。该研究结果为澳大利亚越南退伍军人声称与在越南冲突中服役相关的应激相关障碍发病率增加提供了一定程度的支持。
