| PTSD VETS TWICE AS
LIKELY TO DIE WITHIN A YEAR OF SURGERY
"The magnitude of the detrimental
effect of PTSD diagnosis on postoperative mortality is
unexpectedly large -- greater than that of diabetes."
NOTE from Larry Scott, VA
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Post-Traumatic Stress May
Raise Death Risks
Veterans with disorder more
likely to die within a year of major surgery, study finds
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/10/17/p
ost-traumatic-stress-may-raise-death-risks.html
(HealthDay News) --
Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder face an increased
risk for dying after surgery, even if the surgery is performed
 years
after they have completed their service, according to a U.S.
study.
Researchers analyzed data on 1,792 male veterans who had major
non-cardiac, non-emergency surgeries between 1998 and 2008. Of
that group, 129 (7.8 percent) had been diagnosed with
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before their surgery.
Men with PTSD were an average of seven years younger than those
without PTSD -- 59 versus 66 years old -- but were much more
likely to have cardiac risk factors, the study noted.
One year after surgery, the death rate among men with PTSD was 25
percent higher than for those without PTSD -- 8.5 percent versus
6.8 percent. After the researchers adjusted for age and
preexisting medical conditions -- including heart disease, high
blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking and depression
-- they found that veterans with PTSD were 2.2 times more likely
to die within a year of surgery than those without PTSD.
The findings were scheduled to be presented at the annual meeting
of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, held Oct. 17 to 21
in New Orleans.
"This study is the first of its kind, with groundbreaking
findings," the study's lead author, Dr. Marek Brzezinski, of the
San Francisco VA Medical Center and University of California, San
Francisco, said in a news release from the society. "The magnitude
of the detrimental effect of PTSD diagnosis on postoperative
mortality is unexpectedly large -- greater than that of diabetes,
which is an established risk factor for patients undergoing
surgery."
The results highlight "the need to consider potential treatments
to help reduce risk in the veteran PTSD population, "Brzezinski
said. "The number of veterans returning from our current conflicts
with PTSD who require surgical treatment is expected to increase
in the future."
PTSD affects 15 to 31 percent of Vietnam veterans and 20 percent
of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to
background information in the news release.
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
PTSD |
