Health-Related Quality of Life by Gulf War Illness Case Status

Elizabeth J. Gifford, Stephen H. Boyle, Jacqueline Vahey, Kellie J. Sims, Jimmy T. Efird, Blair Chesnut, Crystal Stafford, Julie Upchurch, Christina D. Williams, Drew A. Helmer and Elizabeth R. Hauser
Additional contact information
Elizabeth J. Gifford: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Stephen H. Boyle: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Jacqueline Vahey: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Kellie J. Sims: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Jimmy T. Efird: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Blair Chesnut: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Crystal Stafford: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Julie Upchurch: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Christina D. Williams: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Drew A. Helmer: Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt), Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Elizabeth R. Hauser: Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: This study examines how health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and related indices vary by Gulf War illness (GWI) case status. The study population included veterans from the Gulf War Era Cohort and Biorepository ( n = 1116). Outcomes were physical and mental health from the Veterans RAND 12 and depression, post-traumatic stress (PTSD), sleep disturbance, and pain. Kansas (KS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) GWI definitions were used. Kansas GWI derived subtypes included GWI (met symptom criteria; no exclusionary conditions (KS GWI: Sym+/Dx−)) and those without GWI: KS noncase (1): Sym+/Dx+, KS noncase (2): Sym−/Dx+, and noncase (3): Sym−/Dx−. CDC-derived subtypes included CDC GWI severe, CDC GWI mild-to-moderate and CDC noncases. Case status and outcomes were examined using multivariable regression adjusted for sociodemographic and military-related characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between GWI case status and binary measures for depression, PTSD, and severe pain. The KS GWI: Sym+/Dx− and KS noncase (1): Sym+/Dx+ groups had worse mental and physical HRQOL outcomes than veterans in the KS noncase (2): Sym−/Dx+ and KS noncase (3): Sym−/Dx− groups ( p s < 0.001). Individuals who met the CDC GWI severe criteria had worse mental and physical HRQOL outcomes than those meeting the CDC GWI mild-to-moderate or CDC noncases ( p s < 0.001). For other outcomes, results followed a similar pattern. Relative to the less symptomatic comparison subtypes, veterans who met the Kansas symptom criteria, regardless of exclusionary conditions, and those who met the CDC GWI severe criteria experienced lower HRQOL and higher rates of depression, PTSD, and severe pain.

Keywords: Gulf War illness; health-related quality of life; post-traumatic stress disorder; sleep disturbance; pain; depression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/8/4425/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/8/4425/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:8:p:4425-:d:788522

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().