GulfLINK

With the objective of determining whether there is excess morbidity amongst Gulf War Veterans a cross-sectional prevalence study is being undertaken to determine whether Gulf War Veterans report more symptoms of ill-health in comparison to military personnel who did not serve in the Gulf.

Prior to undertaking the main study a pilot study was conducted on 200 subjects (100 Gulf and 100 Non-Gulf Veterans). One of the aims of the pilot study was to determine effective methods of contacting subjects and establish the participation rate which could be achieved. Subjects were required to complete a questionnaire about their health which enquired about the degree to which they had been troubled by ninety-five symptoms during the past month. In addition subjects indicated overall how much they had been troubled by ill-health during the past month. All such responses were on a visual analogue scale with the extremes labelled "Not at all" and "Very Severely". The questionnaire was mailed to non-serving study subjects at their last known home address with a reminder letter to non-responders. For those still not responding a variety of techniques were used including verifying and/or obtaining new addresses, sending further questionnaires, telephoning subjects, personal visits. Subjects still serving were either visited at their military base or received a mailed questionnaire with a similar follow-up schedule to non-serving personnel for those not responding.

The overall participation rate in the pilot study was 91% after four months. The presentation will assess to what extent "reluctant" responders and those subjects initially untraced, whose participation would not have been obtained in the pilot study without considerable effort, differ in terms of self-reported current health from those traced subjects who responded to the initial questionnaire or reminder letters. The implications for current studies will be considered.

The Health of Potential Non-Participants in a UK Pilot Study of Veterans