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Anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in Korean War veterans 50 years after the war

Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria

KEITH W. A. HORSLEY, MPA and EILEEN J. WILSON, PhD

Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra

MICHAEL R. MOORE, DSc

National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, University of Queensland, Brisbane

PAUL JELFS, PhD

Cancer Institute New South Wales, Eveleigh, New South Wales

WARREN K. HARREX, MSc(OccMed)

Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra

SCOTT HENDERSON, DSc

John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Correspondence: Jillian Ikin, Monash University, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, The Alfred, Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia. Email: jill.ikin{at}med.monash.edu.au

Declaration of interest None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background There has been no comprehensive investigation of psychological health in Australia’s Korean War veteran population, and few researchers are investigating the health of coalition Korean War veterans into old age.

Aims To investigate the association between war service, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in Australia’s 7525 surviving male Korean War veterans and a community comparison group.

Method A survey was conducted using a self-report postal questionnaire which included the PTSD Checklist, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and the Combat Exposure Scale.

Results Post-traumatic stress disorder (OR 6.63, P<0.001), anxiety (OR 5.74, P<0.001) and depression (OR 5.45, P<0.001) were more prevalent in veterans than in the comparison group. These disorders were strongly associated with heavy combat and low rank.

Conclusions Effective intervention is necessary to reduce the considerable psychological morbidity experienced by Korean War veterans. Attention to risk factors and early intervention will be necessary to prevent similar long-term psychological morbidity in veterans of more recent conflicts.

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