With the results of the questionnaire survey described in
the above paper (Unwin et. al.), the authors used factor analysis to investigate
whether he symptoms reported by British Gulf War veterans were sufficiently
different from recognized disorders to be considered a new disorder. The
first three identified factors and the symptoms which loaded onto them
were: 1) mood-cognition (headaches, irritability, sleep difficulties,
feeling jumpy, unrefreshing sleep, fatigue, feeling distant or cut off
from others, forgetfulness, loss of concentration, avoiding doing things
or situations, and distressing dreams; 2) respiratory system (inability
to breathe deeply, fast breathing, shortness of breath at rest, and wheezing);
and, 3) peripheral nervous system (tingling in fingers or arms, tingling
in legs or arms, and numbness or tingling in fingers or toes). Applying
the factors identified in the Gulf War veterans, the authors found little
difference from the patterns of symptoms reported by veterans who did
not deploy to the Gulf and veterans of the Bosnia deployment. Although
Gulf War veterans reported a higher frequency of symptoms, the similarity
in the patterns of symptoms among all three study groups did not support
the existence of a syndrome unique to Gulf War veterans. The discussion
portion of the paper compares the methods and results of the study with
the two previously published studies of Gulf War veterans which used factor
analysis (Haley, R. et al. and Fukuda, K. et al.). |