Design and measurement in a study of war exposure, health, and aging: protocol for the Vietnam health and aging study
Summary
Summary
Documents Vietnam Health and Aging Study design, completed baseline fieldwork and biomarker collection for investigating long-term relationships between war exposure and later-life health.
The summary describes the published study and the sources listed below.
Scientific notes: 2026-11-12 · Research connections: 12 November 2026Protocol / published information
Protocol overview
Reports baseline implementation, not estimated causal war effects: response was 84.7%; 2,342 participants agreed to biomarkers, and 2,325 had at least one valid body/function measure.
Study design & setting
Study design and methods
Population, setting or evidence base
2,447 community-dwelling adults born in 1959 or earlier, surveyed May–August 2018. Twelve communes/wards were sampled across Ba Vi, Yen Khanh, Bo Trach and Dong Hoi, Vietnam.
Methods
Four districts were purposively chosen by wartime bombing intensity; residents were sampled within sex and veteran-status strata. Home interviews linked life histories and health with clinic-based functional, anthropometric and biological measures. Follow-up was planned for 2021.
Limits to interpretation
Limitations
Selective survival, long-term recall and geographic selection limit inference. Heat/humidity and interview fatigue affected fieldwork. Unexpectedly high HbA1c and poor agreement with another assay require caution. Baseline documentation does not establish completed follow-up.
Research relevance
Research relevance
A concrete example of linking social histories and physiological observations under field constraints. Ba Vi is a sampled district; the paper does not identify the sample as FilaBavi HDSS or a CHEERS implementation.
People, places & projects
Research connections
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Coauthors with research profiles
Sites & research settings
Projects & methods connections
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Published sources & review scope
Sources
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