Self-Reported Liver Disorders In Australian Vietnam War Veterans

Background: Self-reported physical comorbidities are common among combat veterans. Until now, it has been unclear what underlying risk factors were associated with these self-reported health disorders.Purpose: This study aimed to compare self-reporting and objective clinical investigations of liver disorders in a large group of Australian Vietnam War veterans and identify potential risk factors for the discordance.Material and methods: Australian veterans who had served in the armed services in Vietnam during the Vietnam War were recruited between February 2014 and July 2015. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to examine the risk factors of false positive self-reported liver disorders.Results: Of 299 enrolled participants, 80 participants (26.8%) self-reported liver disorders and 110 (36.8%) were clinically confirmed. Self-reporting gave high specificities (83.5% to 98.8%) but low sensitivities (2.70% to 66.7%) for liver disorders. Abdominal symptoms were associated with a 2.2-fold increase in the risk of false positive self-reported liver disorders (P = 0.04).Conclusion: Abdominal symptoms are an independent risk factor for false positive self-reported liver disorders in Australian Vietnam War veterans.