POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER IN US-ARMY VIETNAM VETERANS WHO SERVED IN THE PERSIAN-GULF-WAR

We reviewed U.S. Army medical boards (136 cases) held between October 1990 and July 1994 for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that invol ved participation in the Persian Gulf War of 1990 to 1991. Thirty-five percent of these soldiers (34 cases) had also served in Vietnam. Thei r records were compared with the records of 102 other soldiers also me dically retired for PTSD who sewed in the Persian Gulf War but did not serve in Vietnam. Approximately one-half of the Vietnam group develop ed PTSD symptoms in anticipation of deployment to the Persian Gulf Tho se soldiers with prior Vietnam service had statistically significant o dds ratios for PTSD (between about 5 and 24) compared with soldiers wi thout Vietnam service. These findings indicate that for some persons w ith prior war experience, the threat of another war is sufficient to e xacerbate symptoms or provoke a new episode of PTSD and this risk is s ubstantially greater than that for soldiers without such experience.