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A
Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation of 20,000 Persian Gulf Veterans
The Official Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United
States (AMSUS), Volume 162, Number 3, March 1997 [pdf format]
The Navy Forward
Laboratory During Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Epidemiological Studies of Morbidity among Gulf War Verterans: A Search
for Etiologic Agents and Risk Factors
Gray, G.C.
et al. The Postwar Hospitalization Experience of U.S. Veterans of the
Persian Gulf War. New Eng J Med 1996; 335: 1505-1513. All active duty
GW veterans were compared with a random, 50% sample of active duty GW-era
veterans (non-deployers) with respect to hospitalization rates and causes
of hospitalization for time periods before the war and 3 time periods
after the war, through September 1993. The rate of hospitalization for
GW veterans was lower than other veterans for the two years before the
war, but rates were the same after the war. Overall, during the two years
after the war, there was no excess of unexplained hospitalization among
GW veterans who remained on active duty.
Knoke, J.D. and Gray,
G.C. Hospitalizations for Unexplained Illnesses among U.S. Veterans of
the Persian Gulf War. Emerging Infectious Diseases 1998; 4: 211-219.
The authors compared the postwar hospitalization records of active duty
GW veterans and active duty GW-era veterans for "unexplained illnesses."
Deployed veterans were found to have a slightly higher risk of hospitalization
for unexplained illness than the nondeployed. Most of the excess hospitalizations
for the deployed were due to the diagnosis "illness of unknown cause"
(ICD-9 Code 799.9), and most occurred in participants in the Comprehensive
Clinical Evaluation Program who were admitted for evaluation only. When
the effect of participation in this program was removed, the deployed
had a slightly lower risk than the nondeployed. These findings suggest
that active duty GW veterans did not have excess unexplained illnesses
resulting in hospitalization in the 4.67 year period following deployment.
Kang, H.K. and Bullman,
T.A. Mortality Among U.S. Veterans of the Persian Gulf War. New Eng J
Med 1996; 335: 1498-1504. This DVA study compared death rates among
Gulf War veterans and other veterans of the same era. GW veterans (1765
deaths) had a higher total rate of death than other veterans (1729 deaths).
The excess deaths among GW veterans were due to external causes, including
all types of accidents and motor vehicle accidents specifically. The death
rate from infectious and parasitic causes was much lower among GW veterans
than among other veterans.
Writer, J.V. et
al. Comparative Mortality Among U.S. Military Personnel in the Persian
Gulf Region and Worldwide During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
JAMA 1996; 275: 118-121. Analyzed were all deaths among active duty
military, including activated members of the reserve components, between
1 August 1990 and 31 July 1991 reported to the DoD Worldwide Casualty
System. Of the 1769 deaths worldwide, 372 occurred among personnel in
the Gulf region, including 147 from combat, 194 from non-battle injuries,
and 30 from illness. Injury-related deaths exceeded the number expected
based upon rates that obtained for the non-deployed. |
