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VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP)

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CSP #579: Long Term Health Outcomes of Women Veterans' Service During the Vietnam Era (Health ViEWS)

 

Investigator Access

What's Available

Research data: Individual participant data collected during the study

Available Documentation 

 

Check with the study contact and publications for information on a public dataset, data archive, data enclave, or website where data might be available.

Dates Data are Available 

Access Criteria 

Research resources will be made available through the CSP #579 Repository. Once available, investigators associated with VA or non-VA nonprofit, academic, or research institutions may submit requests for access using a Research Resource Request form. All requests will be reviewed for scientific and ethical merit.  

Once approved, data access is contingent upon approval by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Research and Development (R&D) Committee. In addition, requestors must be fully compliant with VA data security, privacy and human subjects requirements. This may involve implementation of data access agreements.  Allowable analyses include those designed to achieve the aims in the approved proposal.

Study Characteristics

Objectives
  • To determine the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other mental and physical health conditions, and disability in women Vietnam-era Veterans
  • To examine the relationship between PTSD and other conditions and the Vietnam deployment experience

Era of Service

Vietnam

Population

Active duty women during Vietnam era (1965-1973) with 30 days minimum of service

Study Design 

Cross-sectional cohort

Time Period 

March 2010 - August 2012

Setting 

National

N

Main study: 4,219 participants completed the mail survey and telephone interview (Magruder et al. 2015)
Mortality study: 12,109 participants (Kang et al. 2014)

Response Rate

48.3% completed both mail survey and telephone interview

Recruitment Method    

1) Existing roster of women Vietnam-era Veterans developed for VA studies of mortality and reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes of women Vietnam Veterans
2) Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) Vietnam Roster
3) Self-registration through Perry Point Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center

All eligible women were contacted by mail, with an option to opt-out. Those who returned the mailed survey or for whom telephone numbers were available were contacted by telephone.

Compensation

$75 for mail; $75 for telephone

Data Collected
  • Baseline demographic information
  • Lifestyle
  • Mental health
  • Functional status/disability
  • Medical records (for comparison of self-reported data)
  • Vital status
  • Cause of death

Data Collection Methods

Main study:

  • Mailed questionnaire
  • Telephone interview
  • Medical record verification

Mortality study: Death certificates and the National Death Index

Funding Source 

VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP)

Investigators

Susan Frayne, MD, MPH

Contact 

Leslie.Norman@va.gov

Selected Publications 

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(2):160-7.

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 US Vietnam era veterans, 1965-2010. Am J Epidemiol. 2014;179(6):721-30.

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(11):1127-34.

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). Women’s Health Issues. 2017;27(4):471-477. 

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