Citation

Schnurr PP, Spiro A. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 1999; 187(6): 353-359.

Affiliation

Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD, White River Junction, Vermont 05009, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10379722

Abstract

We used path analysis to model the effects of combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and health behaviors on physical health. Participants were 921 male military veterans from the Normative Aging Study. Their mean age at time of study was 65. Measures of combat exposure, PTSD symptoms, smoking, and alcohol problems were used to predict subsequent self-reported physical health status. Both combat exposure and PTSD were correlated with poorer health. In path analysis, combat exposure had only an indirect effect on health status, through PTSD, whereas PTSD had a direct effect. Smoking had a small effect on health status but did not mediate the effects of PTSD, and alcohol was unrelated to health status. We conclude that PTSD is an important predictor of physical health and encourage further investigation of health behaviors and other possible mediators of this relationship.

Language: en