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Hee Choul Ohrr 1 Article
Mortality Patterns among Korean Vietnam Veterans
Sang Wook Yi, Hee Choul Ohrr
Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2011;23(3):279-286.   Published online September 30, 2011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2011.23.3.279
AbstractAbstract PDF
OBJECTIVES
A total of 320,000 Korean soldiers in three combat units and four supporting units participated in the Vietnam War. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between Vietnam experience and mortality by comparing mortalities in Korean Vietnam War veterans to the general population.
METHODS
The deaths of 185,760 Vietnam veterans from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2005 were confirmed by matching the veterans' information to death records from the National Statistical Office. Crude death rate, age adjusted rate and Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated 95% confidence. Age was standardized to the total male population during 1992-2005 with the age of 36 to 83 years old.
RESULTS
The age adjusted death rate per 100,000 was 868.1 among veterans and 1226.5 among the general population. Mortality of all causes was significantly lower among veterans (SMR=0.83, 95% CI: 0.82-0.84). Mortalities from neoplasms (SMR=0.87), circulatory diseases (SMR=0.79), and external causes of deaths (SMR=0.92) were significantly lower among veterans. Mortalities from several external causes of deaths including Intentional self-harm (X60-X84), assault and accidental poisoning, angina pectoris, chronic ischemic heart diseases, prostate cancer, and malignant neoplasms of hematopoietic system including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and leukemia were not different between veterans and the general population.
CONCLUSIONS
Mortality among Vietnam veterans was lower than that among the general population. It would be explained mainly by healthy veteran effect.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  
  • Depressive symptoms and other risk factors predicting suicide in middle-aged men: a prospective cohort study among Korean Vietnam War veterans
    Sang-Wook Yi, Jae-Seok Hong
    PeerJ.2015; 3: e1071.     CrossRef
  • Authors' response to: ME Ginevan et al. Exposure estimates in epidemiological studies of Korean veterans of the Vietnam War
    S.-W. Yi, S.-Y. Ryu
    International Journal of Epidemiology.2015; 44(1): 359.     CrossRef
  • Agent Orange exposure and cancer incidence in Korean Vietnam veterans: A prospective cohort study
    Sang‐Wook Yi, Heechoul Ohrr
    Cancer.2014; 120(23): 3699.     CrossRef
  • Agent Orange exposure and disease prevalence in Korean Vietnam veterans: The Korean veterans health study
    Sang-Wook Yi, Jae-Seok Hong, Heechoul Ohrr, Jee-Jeon Yi
    Environmental Research.2014; 133: 56.     CrossRef
  • Challenges in investigating the association between Agent Orange and cancer: Site‐specific cancer risk and accuracy of exposure assessment
    Thomas H. Sinks
    Cancer.2014; 120(23): 3595.     CrossRef
  • Agent Orange exposure and risk of death in Korean Vietnam veterans: Korean Veterans Health Study
    Sang-Wook Yi, So-Yeon Ryu, Heechoul Ohrr, Jae-Seok Hong
    International Journal of Epidemiology.2014; 43(6): 1825.     CrossRef
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