War across the life course: examining the impact of exposure to conflict on a comprehensive inventory of health measures in an aging Vietnamese population

Author:

Zimmer Zachary1,Fraser Kathryn1ORCID,Korinek Kim2,Akbulut-Yuksel Mevlude3,Young Yvette Marie2,Toan Tran Khanh4

Affiliation:

1. Global Aging and Community Initiative, Department of Family Studies and Gerontology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

2. Department of Sociology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

3. Department of Economics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

4. Family Medicine Department, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

Abstract Background The majority of evidence indicates that exposure to war and other traumatic events continue to have negative impacts on health across the life course. However, existing research on health effects of war exposure primarily concentrates on short-term impacts among veterans in high-income countries sent elsewhere to battle. Yet, most wars situate in lower- and middle-income countries, where many are now or will soon be entering old age. Consequently, the current burden of exposure to war has ignored an important global population. Methods The Vietnam Health and Aging Study (VHAS) is a longitudinal study designed to examine historical exposure to highly stressful events during the American War. Two modes of data collection, involving a sample of 2447 individuals aged 60+ years in northern Vietnam, took place between May and August 2018. Using this first wave of data, we generate indexed measures of war exposure and analyze their associations with a set of 12 health outcomes, accounting for confounding variables. Results Results indicate that greater exposure to three types of war exposure (death and injury, stressful living conditions, and fearing death and/or injury) in earlier life is associated with worse health in later-life across a large number of health outcomes, such as number of diagnosed health conditions, mental distress, somatic symptoms, physical functioning, post-traumatic stress symptoms and chronic pain. Conclusions Findings support a life course theory of health and point to long-term effects of war on health that require detailed attention.

Funder

National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through the Canada Research Chairs Program

NIH

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

General Medicine,Epidemiology

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