Gulf War Veterans More Likely to Report Ill Health
Date: 15-Jul-04
Country: USA
The findings are in agreement with numerous studies that have looked at ill health among Gulf war veterans. However, the authors note that the present study is the first to use "a questionnaire which did not focus specifically on the veteran's symptoms themselves."
The study, which is published in the journal BMC Public Health, involved more than 40,000 Gulf and non-Gulf veterans who responded to the validated questionnaire.
Dr. Rebecca Simmons and colleagues, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found that Gulf veterans were nearly three times more likely to report a new medical symptom or disease since 1990 than their non-Gulf peers. In addition, Gulf veterans typically reported more symptoms.
Gulf veterans were at particularly increased risk for mood swings and memory and concentration problems. Compared with non-Gulf veterans, Gulf veterans were about 20 times more likely to report each of these problems. In addition, reports of night sweats and general fatigue were increased by about 10-fold in the Gulf group and sexual dysfunction by about 5-fold.
Overall, 6 percent of Gulf veterans thought they had Gulf War syndrome and this was linked to the highest symptom reporting, the researchers note.
"Further research on the mechanisms underlying the reporting of ill health is required," they conclude, "and this will entail a more qualitative approach to the problem of Gulf War illness."