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Predicting Health-Related Quality of Life in Trauma-Exposed Male Veterans in Late Midlife: A 20 Year Longitudinal Study

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  • Samantha M. Stevens

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
    Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16801, USA)

  • Daniel E. Gustavson

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
    Department of Otolaryngology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA)

  • Bin Fang

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA)

  • Xin Tu

    (Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA)

  • Mark Logue

    (Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Michael J. Lyons

    (Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Chandra A. Reynolds

    (Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA)

  • William S. Kremen

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
    Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA)

  • Carol E. Franz

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA)

Abstract

Trauma-exposed adults with high levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) report poorer health-related quality of life (HRQOL), but less is known about the persistence of this relationship over time. Participants from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging reported on PTSS, health, and sociodemographic characteristics at average age 38; 775 participants reported having been exposed to trauma. Later, at average ages 56 and 62, mental and physical HRQOL were assessed with the Short-Form 36. Premorbid risk for anxiety/neuroticism was evaluated with a polygenic risk score derived from a large genome-wide association study meta-analysis. In multivariate mixed models, having higher levels of PTSS, poorer self-rated health, lower income, and less education at age 38 were associated with worse physical and mental HRQOL two decades later. Chronic health problems at age 38 predicted midlife physical but not mental HRQOL. Although genetic risk for neuroticism was correlated with HRQOL and PTSS, it was no longer significant in multivariate models. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) predicts morbidity and mortality independently of objective health measures; early interventions may help to mitigate the ongoing impact of trauma on quality of life.

Suggested Citation

  • Samantha M. Stevens & Daniel E. Gustavson & Bin Fang & Xin Tu & Mark Logue & Michael J. Lyons & Chandra A. Reynolds & William S. Kremen & Carol E. Franz, 2020. "Predicting Health-Related Quality of Life in Trauma-Exposed Male Veterans in Late Midlife: A 20 Year Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4554-:d:375905
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pennebaker, James W. & Susman, Joan R., 1988. "Disclosure of traumas and psychosomatic processes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 327-332, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Johanna Katharina Hohls & Hans-Helmut König & Eleanor Quirke & André Hajek, 2021. "Anxiety, Depression and Quality of Life—A Systematic Review of Evidence from Longitudinal Observational Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-26, November.

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