The reporting of pain was compared for U.K. Persian Gulf War veterans, veterans from the Bosnian conflict, and personnel employed in the military at the time of the Persian Gulf War but not deployed (era comparison group). Pain manikins were used to assess the prevalence of the reporting of pain in different body sites and the prevalence of the reporting of widespread pain, in relation to compa...

To the Editor: We studied all active-duty Persian Gulf War–era veterans who remained on active duty at the conclusion of deployment (July 31, 1991), not as Leisure et al. stated in their letter “selected, mostly healthy, active-duty Persian Gulf War veterans enlisted as of 1994.” Our study was restricted to hospitalizations of active-duty service members because these were the only service memb...

BACKGROUND Differences in the characteristics and mental health needs of female veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan war compared with those of veterans of other wars may have useful implications for VA program and treatment planning. METHODS Female veterans reporting service in the Iraq/Afghanistan war were compared with women reporting service in the Persian Gulf and Vietnam wars and to men rep...

Since the Persian Gulf War ended in 1991, veterans have reported diverse, unexplained symptoms. Some have wondered if their development of systemic lupus erythematosus, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or fibromyalgia might be related to Gulf War service. The authors used Cox proportional hazard modeling to determine whether regular, active-duty service personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf War ...

1 The Iowa Persian Gulf Study Group. Self-reported illnesses and health status among Gulf war veterans. A population based study. JAMA 1997;277:238-45. 2 Kang H, Mahan C, Lee K, Magee C, Murphy F. Illnesses among United States veterans of the Gulf war: a population-based survey of 30,000 veterans. J Occup Environ Med 2000;42:491-501. 3 Gray G, Smith T, Kang H, Knoke J. Are Gulf veterans sufferi...

Gulf War veterans have reported health problems that they attribute to their military service, but little is understood about the nature or extent of these conditions. To determine whether Kansas Gulf War veterans are affected by excess health problems, a population-based survey of 1,548 veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War (PGW) and 482 veterans who served elsewhere (non-PGW) was conduc...

Despite over US $200 million having been spent researching illnesses following the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, the nature and cause of such illnesses remains controversial. In this narrative review, we discuss some of the methodological issues that have affected epidemiological studies on this topic. These include low-response rates, ascertainment bias, recall bias, problems identifying suitable ...

life in Gulf War era military personnel. Am J Epidemiol 2002;155: 899–907. 52 The International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification. 5th edn. Salt Lake City: Medicode Publication, 1998. 53 SAS Institute Inc. SAS/STAT Software Version 9.0. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.; 2002. 54 Gray GC, Coate BD, Anderson CM et al. The post-war hospitalization experience of U.S. veter...

BACKGROUND Veterans of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 have reported a range of adverse health symptoms. This systematic review aims to identify all studies that have compared the prevalence of symptoms of pain in veterans of the Gulf War to that in a non-Gulf military comparison group, and to determine whether Gulf War veterans are at increased risk of reporting pain. METHODS Studies published ...

Since the Persian Gulf War ended in 1991, many veterans have sought medical evaluation in the Department of Veterans Affairs Persian Gulf Veterans' Health Registry (VA registry) or the Department of Defense's Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (DoD registry). Using combined data collected from 1993 to 1997 from the VA and DoD registries, the authors compared the characteristics of regist...