Health Outcomes of Women’s Vietnam War Service
The HealthViEWS: Health of Vietnam Era Veteran Women's Study (2011-2012) (also called the Cooperative Studies Program (CSP) No. 579) is the most comprehensive VA study to date of the mental and physical health of women Vietnam War Veterans.
Goals
The major goal of the study was to understand the impact of wartime deployment on health outcomes of Vietnam-era women Veterans approximately 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War. The study’s purpose was to estimate the lifetime and current prevalence of psychiatric disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Additionally, its intent was to characterize the physical health and disability status of women who served in that conflict, and to improve our understanding of the relationship between PTSD and other conditions and Vietnam deployment. The study is of importance to the VA, and to women who are currently serving in the military today, by investigating how combat experience could be expected to affect women Veterans’ health as they age. Learn more about this study.
Participants
This was a study of approximately 10,000 women who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, including those who served in Vietnam, those who served in countries near Vietnam, and those who served primarily in the United States.
Methods
Cohort development, mail survey and telephone interview administration, and medical record abstraction is completed. The study was coordinated by VA's Cooperative Studies Program. Several papers have been published on various topics related to deployment’s association with health.
Study publications
Smith BN, Spiro A, Frayne SM, Kimerling R, Cypel Y, Reinhard MJ, Kilbourne AM, Magruder KM. Impact of Wartime Stress Exposures and Mental Health on Later-Life Functioning and Disability in Vietnam-Era Women Veterans: Findings from The Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthViEWS). Psychosom Med. 2020; 82: 147-157.
Schmidt EM, Magruder K, Kilbourne AM, Stock EM, Cypel Y, El Burai Félix S, Serpi T, Kimerling R, Cohen B, Spiro A, Furey J, Huang GD, Frayne SM. Four Decades after War: Incident Diabetes among Women Vietnam-Era Veterans in the HealthViEWS Study. Womens Health Issues. 2019; 29: 471-479.
Kilbourne AM, Schumacher K, Frayne SM, Cypel Y, Barbaresso MM, Nord KM, Perzhinsky J, Lai Z, Prenovost K, Spiro A, Gleason TC, Kimerling R, Huang GD, Serpi TB, Magruder KM. Physical health conditions among a population-based cohort of Vietnam-era women Veterans: Agreement between self-report and medical records. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2017; 26: 1244-1251.
Sternke LM, Serpi T, Spiro A 3rd, Kimerling R, Kilbourne AM, Cypel Y, Frayne SM, Furey J, Huang GD, Reinhard MJ, Magruder K. Assessment of a Revised Wartime Experiences Scale for Vietnam-Era Women: The Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthViEWS). Womens Health Issues 2017; 27: 471-477.
Magruder K, Serpi T, Kimerling R, Kilbourne, AM, Collins JF, Cypel Y, Frayne SM, Furey J, Huang GD, Gleason T, Reinhard MJ, Spiro A, Kang H. Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam-era women Veterans: The Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthVIEWS). JAMA Psychiatry 2015; 72: 1127-1134.
Kimerling R, Serpi T, Weathers F, Kilbourne AM, Kang H, Collins JF, Cypel Y, Frayne SM, Furey J, Huang GD, Reinhard MJ, Spiro A, Magruder K. Diagnostic accuracy of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0) PTSD module among female Vietnam-era Veterans. J Trauma Stress 2014; 27: 160-167.
Kang HK, Cypel Y, Kilbourne AM, Magruder KM, Serpi T, Collins JF, Frayne SM, Furey J, Huang GD, Kimerling R, Reinhard MJ, Schumacher K, Spiro A 3rd. HealthViEWS: Mortality study of female U.S. Vietnam era Veterans, 1965-2010. Am J Epidemiol 2014; 179: 721-730.
Related publications
Cypel Y, Kang H. Mortality patterns among women Vietnam-era Veterans: Results of a retrospective cohort study. Ann Epidemiol 2008;18:244-252.
Kang HK, Mahan CM, Lee KY, Magee CA, Mather SH, Matanoski G. Pregnancy outcomes among U.S. women Vietnam Veterans. Am J Ind Med 2000;38:447–454.
Kang HK, Mahan CM, Lee KY, Magee CA, Selvin S. Prevalence of gynecologic cancers among female Vietnam Veterans. J Occup Environ Med 2000;42:1121–1127.
Dalager NA, Kang HK, Thomas TL. Cancer mortality patterns among women who served in the military: The Vietnam experience. J Occup Environ Med 1995;37:298–305.
Thomas TL, Kang HK, Dalager NA. Mortality among women Vietnam Veterans, 1973–1987. Am J Epidemiol 1991;134:973–980.
