Quality of Life in Iranian Chemical Warfare Veteran's

BACKGROUND Mustard gas has different effects on different body systems such as respiratory tract, blood, gastrointestinal, skin, eye, endocrine and peripheral nervous system. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life in chemical warfare veterans due to sulfur mustard exposure. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a cross-sectional and analytic study, 242 patients who had a chemical injury during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1983) and their lung damage was proven were investigated in our study. The quality of life was measured in these patients using an extensively validated Iranian version of SF-36. RESULTS The mean age of veterans was 44.12 ± 4.9 ranging from 22 to 62 years. Our results showed that chemical warfare had a decreased quality of life in all subscales of the SF-36. The lowest scores in SF-36 subscales were related to role physical and general health. The data also showed a significant relationship between the number of organs involved and the quality of life in these patients (P < 0.001, r = - 0.33). So that the patients who had more than three organs involved had lower quality of life. 95.4% of our participants experienced another complication with respiratory complication and the ophthalmologic complications were the most frequent accompanying condition. CONCLUSIONS The results imply that chemical warfare survivors suffering from late complications have a low health related quality of life.