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PubMedDate not supplied

Sleep disturbance and computerized axial tomographic scan findings in former prisoners of war.

Ten drug-free former American prisoners of war (POWs), captured on Bataan and Corregidor by the Japanese in World War II, participated in a study of the relationship between structural brain abnormalities on computerized axial tomographic (CT) scans and sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) findings. All subjects had complaints of sleep disturbances and other posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related symptoms. Six of 10 subjects had no stage 4 sleep, and had significantly higher mean ventricular brain ratios (VBRs). Structural brain measures such as VBRs and global sulcal widening (GSW) correlated significantly with the number of awakenings; GSW also correlated significantly with time spent asleep. However, because data from normal age-matched controls are not available, it remains to be seen whether our findings are PTSD specific.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Fifty years after: some experiences of the medical care of prisoners of war.

Mention is made of Italian prisoners-of-war treated in Catterick military hospital but in October 1943 Italy joined the Allied side. An account is given of the medical condition of 78 Japanese POWs and of 228 members of the Japanese Indian Forces (JIFs) in a transit hospital in eastern India (now Bangladesh). Tropical sprue appeared to occur in an epidemic form each June and July in Burma and eastern India, but did not seem to have affected the Japanese or JIFs. A brief account is given of the condition of 180 European or Australian service men who had survived harsh conditions in Japanese POW camps until liberation in September 1945, then being admitted to a military hospital in Rangoon en route for home. Some had suffered from blindness as a result of malnutrition, the precise reason being uncertain, but there was some improvement after the injection of crude liver extract.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed2000

Trauma exposure, resilience, social support, and PTSD construct validity among former prisoners of war.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate predictors of persistent symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to examine the construct validity of PTSD in a national sample of 270 World War II and Korean Conflict prisoners of war (POWs). METHOD: POWs were interviewed at two points in time (1965 and 1990). Predictors included PTSD symptomatology measured in 1965 by items from the Cornell Medical Index (CMI), severity of captivity trauma, resilience factors, and post-trauma social support. The criterion, symptomatology in the early 1990s, was evaluated with the PTSD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID). RESULTS: The CMI provided only partial coverage of PTSD criteria and appeared to provide only a general index of distress. Clustering of SCID items in two-dimensional space via multidimensional scaling analysis offers some construct validation for the DSM's differentiation of PTSD symptoms into criterion groups, although there was not a perfect match. Trauma severity is best related to PTSD symptomatology experienced in 1990, mitigated in part by greater education level and age at the time of trauma exposure. Surprisingly, 1965 distress added only a modest amount to the prediction of current distress, while post-trauma social support added none. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support previous work showing the severe psychological sequelae of POW status 40-50 years after captivity, and indicate that trauma severity during captivity is the best predictor of current PTSD symptomatology. Results also add to our understanding of the conceptual differentiation of PTSD symptoms into separate and distinct symptom clusters.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Canadian occupational therapists' contributions to prisoners of war in World War II.

BACKGROUND: A small number of Canadian occupational therapists provided materials to prisoners of war who were experiencing occupational deprivation in German camps during World War II. Although the occupational therapy contribution was relatively minor relative to the overall efforts of assistance to prisoners of war, it represented dedication, commitment and further sacrifice at a time when occupational therapists faced difficult choices. METHOD: An historical research method approach was employed to gather information from primary sources found in the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy archives. Secondary sources were also consulted to provide additional background information. This paper outlines the need and context for the response, method of organization, materials sent, challenges experienced, and impact that this effort had on both POWs and the occupational therapists themselves. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This account may inform and inspire current day occupational therapists who are considering the implications of occupational deprivation within frameworks of social and occupational justice.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1992

Mortality of former prisoners of war and other Australian veterans.

OBJECTIVE: This second summary article from an epidemiological review of the health of former prisoners of war (POWs) and other Australian veterans, commissioned by the Sir Edward Dunlop Medical Research Foundation, reports on studies of mortality. DATA SOURCES: The MEDLARS database, from 1966 to the present, under the terms military personnel, veterans, veterans' disability claims, combat disorders and prisoners (matched against war); databases of the Department of Veterans' Affairs (Victoria) and the Central Library, Commonwealth Department of Defense, under the term "prisoner of war"; and the microfiche listings of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, under "prisoner of war" and "repatriation". Only studies in English or French were reviewed, reaching a total of 172. STUDY SELECTION: Four studies in this paper constitute the main evidence about postwar mortality in Australians who were POWs of World War II or Vietnam veterans. Other mortality studies are cited in the complete literature review published elsewhere. DATA EXTRACTION: Only the data with an epidemiological basis are considered here. DATA SYNTHESIS: All-cause mortality rates were no greater in former POWs or Vietnam veterans than in the general Australian male population. There was, however, evidence of increased mortality among former POWs compared with other non-POW veterans, and among Vietnam veterans in one particular corps compared with veterans of the same era who served in Australia. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated early postwar mortality of young former POWs implicates diseases with short latent periods (including psychiatric disorders). This is consistent with the greater health risks of this group of survivors that were identified in the earlier review of morbidity. Mortality among former POWs and other veterans requires continued surveillance because a "healthy worker effect" (or exclusion of unfit persons from the armed forces) may partly conceal increased morbidity or mortality that should be attributed to war service.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The use of visual evoked potentials to follow-up prisoners of war after release from detention camps.

Visual evoked potentials were examined in released prisoners of war (POWs) in order to evaluate the extent of neurological impairment after imprisonment in Serbian detention camps. On two occasions visual evoked potentials were determined in a group of 11 released prisoners of war (POWs): 157 days and 379 days after release from detention camp. During the first examination no significant differences were found in VEP parameters between the right and left eye. However, during the second examination significant differences were found in the latencies of waves P100 and N145, statistically significantly prolonged latencies of the P100 wave and significantly greater amplitudes of waves P50 and N75. The results can be regarded as progression of the VEP changes in the released POWs. It is hypothesized that these changes are a result of a demyelination process, caused by the altered immunological status of the POWs during posttraumatic stress syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Rheumatic complaints and diseases in ex-prisoners of war in Croatia in 1991. A review of medical prognosis for work capacity].

The results are presented of an examination of the locomotor system in 48 ex-prisoners of war, previously maltreated in prison camps in Serbia and occupied areas of Croatia. They were part of a group of 508 prisoners of war, examined in the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb. They were all male, aged 33.9 +/- 11.56 years, in whom, after the first medical examination a rheumatological examination was indicated because of disorders of the locomotor system. Only 16.7% of the subjects had not been physically maltreated. Blows to the lumbo-sacral spine were the most frequent (43.7%), shoulders (33.4%) and the head (27.0%). Earlier rheumatic disorders were reported by 41.7% of the ex prisoners, and during the examination in our Rheumatological clinic 70.8%. In 21% of the ex-prisoners the rheumatological disorders started as a direct consequence of maltreatment in the prison camps. In one of the ex-prisoners acquisition of ankylosis spondylitis occurred and in another uric arthritis. In 50% of the ex-prisoners a marked reduction in work ability was confirmed. Disability retirement was proposed for two ex-prisoners. Optimal health treatment is discussed and medical prognosis of work ability.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Clinical psychiatric illness in prisoners of war of the Japanese: forty years after release.

Clinical psychiatric and medical assessments were carried out on a randomly selected sample of Australian prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in 1942 and a sample of combatants from Pacific theatres of war who were not captured. Prisoners of war had significantly more anxiety and depressive 'neuroses' and more major affective illness, although the latter finding was not statistically significant. The two groups did not differ in the risk of alcohol abuse and dependence.

Alcoholism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mortality from Parkinson's disease and other causes in men who were prisoners of war in the Far East.

BACKGROUND: During World War II, more than 140000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) were held captive by the Japanese in conditions of extreme privation. There have been concerns that the survivors are at increased risk of degenerative neurological disorders, especially Parkinson's disease. We assembled a cohort of British ex-POWs and analysed their mortality in a 46-year follow-up study. METHODS: Using records held by the War Pensions Agency, we abstracted data on 11915 British former POWs. 11134 men were traced, and observed numbers of deaths between 1952 and 1997 were compared with those expected from national rates for the male population of England and Wales. Standardised mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated. FINDINGS: Overall, mortality was lower than expected (7474 deaths vs 8796.2 expected; SMR 0.85 [95% CI 0.83-0.87]). Death rates from Parkinson's disease among the former POWs were slightly below the national average, though this difference was not statistically significant (35 deaths vs 43.2 expected; SMR 0.81 [0.56-1.13]). A similar pattern was seen for other degenerative neurological disorders (motorneuron disease 0.62 [0.31-1.11], multiple sclerosis 0.88 [0.42-1.61], and dementia 0.88 [0.68-1.11]). The former POWs had significantly lower than expected mortality from all major causes of death (ischaemic heart disease 0.81 [0.78-0.85], cerebrovascular disease 0.88 [0.81-0.95], all malignant neoplasms 0.92 [0.88-0.95], and respiratory disease 0.79 [0.74-0.85]). They also had below average rates of death from tuberculosis (0.44 [0.26-0.71]) and suicide (0.77 [0.57-1.02]), though the latter relation was not statistically significant. Mortality from diseases of the liver was increased (chronic liver disease and cirrhosis 1.68 [1.28-2.17], primary carcinoma of the liver 2.42 [1.75-3.26]). INTERPRETATION: There is little evidence that men who were POWs in the Far East have higher rates of death than the male population generally. The only exception is diseases of the liver, which may be due to infection with hepatitis B or C virus during captivity. Death-certification data cannot provide a complete picture of physical and mental health, but the period of severe malnutrition, frequent infections, exhaustion, and intense psychological stress seems not to have increased susceptibility to neurodegenerative disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Schistosoma haematobium infection among Ethiopian prisoners of war (1977-1988) returning from Somalia.

Fifty Ethiopian male prisoners of war aged 20-34 years returning from Somalia were examined at the Schistosomiasis Diagnostic Laboratory of the Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Abeba University, Addis Abeba in 1988. Medical history was obtained and their urine was examined by the filtration technique. Recovered eggs of S. haematobium were allowed to hatch as a test for viability. Positive patients were treated with praziquantel at a single dose of 40mg per kg. 94% of the prisoners gave history of haematuria and 96% gave history of treatment for schistosomiasis while in Somalia. S. haematobium egg positivity rate was 30% and all but one patient had viable eggs in their urine. The geometric mean egg count per 10ml urine was only 6.4. Urine examination of treated cases six weeks later showed 100% cure rate. A preliminary compatibility study between Ethiopian Bulinus snails and the Somalian strain of S. haematobium showed that B. abyssinicus and B. truncatus were susceptible to the parasite while B. africanus was only partially susceptible. The possibility that a foreign strain of S. haematobium may be introduced into ecologically and malacologically receptive areas in Ethiopia is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The medical care of Iraqi enemy prisoners of war.

During Operation Desert Storm, Approximately 62,000 enemy prisoners of war (EPWs) were captured by allied forces. Most of these EPWs were taken during the ground war and the weeks following. Over 20,000 of these were interned at East Camp, which was located approximately 125 miles south of the Kuwaiti border. The 300th Field Hospital was tasked to provide inpatient and outpatient care to the EPWs. This paper summarizes the experience, analyzing the diseases encountered, the types of medicines needed, and the unique problems of treating non-English speaking EPWs. From January 27 to February 23, 1991, approximately 308 patients were treated. From the beginning of the ground war on February 24, through March 30, approximately 8,979 patients were treated. The most common condition seen was dental disease (24.0%). Other commonly treated conditions were upper respiratory infection (12.4%), headache (11.7%), and urinary tract infections (9.6%). The unique problems of language barriers and security requirements increased the difficulty and the time required to conduct sick call for Iraqi EPWs.

Humans↗