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This study studied a sample of the 28,968 Iowans from the
National Guard, Reserve, or active component who were on active duty during
the Gulf War. A stratified random sample selected 4,886 subjects of whom
3,695 (76%) completed a structured telephone interview. Participants were
asked about symptoms, health status, and exposures during the GW. Compared
to those who did not deploy, personnel deployed to the Gulf reported significantly
higher prevalence rates of symptoms of depression, PTSD, chronic fatigue,
cognitive dysfunction, bronchitis, asthma, fibromyalgia, alcohol abuse,
anxiety, and sexual discomfort. Most of the self-reported GW exposures
were significantly related to many of the medical and psychiatric conditions.
Personnel who served in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or Kuwait were significantly
associated with depression, cognitive dysfunction, and fibromyalgia, compared
with those who were stationed elsewhere in the theater. The authors discuss
the several possible interpretations of the associations found. They note
that their study included a wide range of diagnoses more likely to be
evaluated in outpatient settings, an advantage over other studies which
used hospitalization data. Limitations of the study are: the possibility
that a study of Iowans may not be generalizable; internal validation of
responses was not done; medical conditions are based on self-reports of
the participants and they have not been validated by objective physical
or laboratory findings; and, the multiple comparisons in the analysis
could have revealed statistically significant relationships by chance
alone. |
