WELLINGTON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Researchers investigated a random sample of 200 New Zealand World War I veterans, and found that almost all the sample had at least one new non-fatal health condition diagnosed during their military service.
More had new diagnoses for infectious diseases than for conflict-related injuries, according to a study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal on Friday.
The authors from the University of Otago said their findings show that the overall impact from health conditions on New Zealand soldiers in WWI was much higher than the previous official estimates.
In these "unseen casualties," respiratory conditions affected 33 percent of soldiers, 14 percent were diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases, 10 percent had diagnoses suggestive of post-traumatic stress disorder, and 6 percent had chemical warfare injuries.
The research found that the 200 New Zealand WWI veterans surveyed experienced a very high morbidity burden, with 94 percent having an average of 2.4 per individual new conditions diagnosed during their military service.
The relative severity of these health conditions was reflected by the high level of hospitalization, with 89 percent at least once, and 59 percent of personnel being deemed no longer fit for military service at some stage, according to the study. ■
