Alcohol consumption and problem drinking in Vietnam era veterans and nonveterans

The relationship between Vietnam era veteran status and 13 indicators of alcohol consumption and problem drinking is examined using data from the 1977, 1983 and 1985 National Health Interview Surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. Compared to a group of nonveterans frequency matched on age, a greater proportion of Vietnam era veterans are currently heavy drinkers and a smaller proportion are abstainers, after simultaneous adjustment for seven demographic factors (age, region of the U.S., urbanization, ethnicity, marital status, education and income). Further, both white veterans and white nonveterans demonstrate an effect of increasing abstention with increasing age across the 3 interview years. In all race and veteran groups the proportion of lifetime abstainers can be ranked in increasing order as follows: white veterans, white nonveterans, non-white veterans and non-white nonveterans. This ranking is reversed for lifetime heavy drinking. Nearly half of the white veterans report drinking heavily at some point in their lives. Among both whites and non-whites, a significantly greater proportion of veterans than nonveterans report alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes or violations.