Womens Health Issues. 2017 Jul - Aug;27(4):471-477. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2017.03.006. Epub 2017 Apr 21.

Assessment of a Revised Wartime Experiences Scale for Vietnam-Era Women: The Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthViEWS).

Sternke LM¹, Serpi T², Spiro A 3rd³, Kimerling R⁴, Kilbourne AM⁵, Cypel Y⁶, Frayne SM⁷, Furey J⁸, Huang GD⁹, Reinhard MJ¹⁰, Magruder K¹¹.

Author information

1: Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina; Charleston Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center (HEROIC), HSR&D Center of Innovation (COIN), Charleston, South Carolina; College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. Electronic address: Lisa.Sternke@va.gov.
2: Perry Point Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center, VA Maryland Health Care System, Perry Point, Maryland.
3: MAVERIC, VA Boston Healthcare System, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.
4: HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California; National Center for PTSD, Dissemination and Training Division, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California.
5: Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), US Department of Veterans Affairs, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
6: Post-Deployment Health Services, Office of Patient Care Services, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, District of Columbia.
7: HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California; Division of General Medical Disciplines, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
8: Vietnam Veteran, Sayville, New York.
9: VA Cooperative Studies Program Central Office, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development, Washington, District of Columbia.
10: War Related Illness and Injury Center (WRIISC-DC), Washington, District of Columbia; Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical School, Washington, District of Columbia.
11: Charleston Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center (HEROIC), HSR&D Center of Innovation (COIN), Charleston, South Carolina; Mental Health Service, Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina; Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

Few wartime experiences scales capture unique issues related to women's service, address their military roles, or have been validated with women. The Women's Wartime Stressor Scale was developed for use with women who served during the Vietnam era, primarily as nurses in Vietnam. We revised this measure by modifying existing items, adding new items, and revising response formats to create a scale less nursing specific and nondeployment specific, and conducted a preliminary assessment of the revised scale.

METHODS:

The Women's Wartime Exposure Scale-Revised (WWES-R) was included in a mail survey as part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthViEWS) study. Construct and criterion validity, and internal consistency, were assessed with a sample of 4,839 women veterans using exploratory factor analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression.

RESULTS:

Six wartime experience factors consistent with previous research were identified and scales were created based on salient item loadings. Compared with women serving in the United States, women serving in Vietnam had higher mean scores on all scales, and nurses had significantly higher scores on three scales than non-nurses.

CONCLUSIONS:

Evaluation of the WWES-R suggests service and/or deployment location and service in a military health care versus a non-health care role may predict women veterans' reports of certain wartime experiences. Further psychometric evaluation of the WWES-R is recommended with later era veterans and through comparisons to other wartime exposure measures.

Published by Elsevier Inc.