Lifetime Alcohol Abuse in Institutionalized World War II Veterans

The authors document the lifetime prevalence and etiological correlates of alcohol abuse in a sample of elderly World War II veterans. Subjects (mean age 74.2 years), residing in a veterans' long-term care facility were given the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. A second investigato...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of geriatric psychiatry 1996, Vol.4 (1), p.39-45
Main Authors: Herrmann, Nathan, Eryavec, Goran
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The authors document the lifetime prevalence and etiological correlates of alcohol abuse in a sample of elderly World War II veterans. Subjects (mean age 74.2 years), residing in a veterans' long-term care facility were given the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. A second investigator gave the Modified Combat Exposure Scale and administered a checklist of pre-war and wartime variables. The lifetime prevalence of alcohol abuse was 53%. There was no correlation between alcohol abuse and any other psychiatric diagnosis. There was a significant correlation between the severity of combat stress and subsequent alcohol abuse. Veterans with alcohol abuse also had significantly more wartime head injuries. There was also a trend for the alcoholic group to have experienced more pre-war stressors. Examination of pre-war variables and the severity of the combat stress might help to identify veterans at risk for development of alcohol abuse.
ISSN:1064-7481
1545-7214
DOI:10.1097/00019442-199600410-00005