Veteran Health Study

US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Diabetes; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Depression; Cardiovascular Disease

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT01175629

569

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of The Veteran Health Study (CSP #569) is to better understand the mental and physical health of veterans as they get older. We are inviting approximately 10,000 members of the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry to participate. As veterans approach their mid-sixties, it is important to understand the impact of wartime deployment on health and mental health outcomes nearly 40 years later.

The investigators will assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental and physical health conditions for Vietnam era veterans, and explore the relationship between PTSD and other conditions.

CSP #569 involves 3 phases of data collection. In Phase I, VET Registry members are invited to complete a paper and pencil questionnaire including items on physical and mental health, disability, health behaviors, demographic information and use of health care services. After completing Phase I, VET Registry members are invited to Phase II which involves a telephone interview about mental health. In Phase III, some of those who participated in Phase I will be invited to a sub-study confirming self-reported heart disease and diabetes using a provider survey.

Data collected for CSP #569 will be combined with existing VET Registry data. This will provide a rich picture of the health of Vietnam era veterans and the influence of PTSD on the lives of veterans.

Enrollment: 7,568 patients

Sex: Male

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• All twins who are currently active in the VET Registry will be invited to participate in CSP #569.

Exclusion criteria

• Unable or unwilling to provide informed consent

Trial design

7,568 participants in 1 patient group

Group 1

Description:

The Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry is a closed cohort composed of 7,369 middle-aged male-male twin pairs both of whom served in the military during the time of the Vietnam conflict (1965-1975). The Registry is a United States Department of Veterans Affairs resource that was originally constructed from military records; the Registry has been in existence for more than 15 years. It is one of the largest national twin registries in the US and currently has subjects living in all 50 states. Initially formed to address questions about the long-term health effects of service in Vietnam the Registry has evolved into a resource for genetic epidemiological studies of mental and physical health conditions. Several waves of mail and telephone surveys have collected a wealth of health-related information on Registry twins. Other data collection efforts have focused on specific sets of twin pairs and conducted detailed clinical or laboratory testing.