Abstract
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)
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
