Association of Gulf War Illness with Characteristics in Deployed vs. Non-Deployed Gulf War Era Veterans in the Cooperative Studies Program 2006/Million Veteran Program 029 Cohort: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Linh M. Duong (), Alice B. S. Nono Djotsa, Jacqueline Vahey, Lea Steele, Rachel Quaden, Kelly M. Harrington, Sarah T. Ahmed, Renato Polimanti, Elani Streja, John Michael Gaziano, John Concato, Hongyu Zhao, Krishnan Radhakrishnan, Elizabeth R. Hauser, Drew A. Helmer, Mihaela Aslan and Elizabeth J. Gifford
Additional contact information
Linh M. Duong: Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), VA Connecticut Healthcare System 151B, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
Alice B. S. Nono Djotsa: Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety (IQuESt), Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Jacqueline Vahey: VA Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center—Durham, Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Lea Steele: Veterans Health Research Program, Yudofsky Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Rachel Quaden: Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
Kelly M. Harrington: Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
Sarah T. Ahmed: Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety (IQuESt), Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Renato Polimanti: Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), VA Connecticut Healthcare System 151B, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
Elani Streja: Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), VA Connecticut Healthcare System 151B, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
John Michael Gaziano: Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
John Concato: Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Hongyu Zhao: Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), VA Connecticut Healthcare System 151B, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
Krishnan Radhakrishnan: National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD 20857, USA
Elizabeth R. Hauser: VA Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center—Durham, Department of Veterans Affairs, 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
Mihaela Aslan: Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), VA Connecticut Healthcare System 151B, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
Elizabeth J. Gifford: VA Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center—Durham, Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, NC 27705, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: Gulf War Illness (GWI), a chronic multisymptom illness with a complex and uncertain etiology and pathophysiology, is highly prevalent among veterans deployed to the 1990–1991 GW. We examined how GWI phenotypes varied by demographic and military characteristics among GW-era veterans. Data were from the VA’s Cooperative Studies Program 2006/Million Veteran Program (MVP) 029 cohort, Genomics of GWI. From June 2018 to March 2019, 109,976 MVP enrollees (out of a total of over 676,000) were contacted to participate in the 1990–1991 GW-era Survey. Of 109,976 eligible participants, 45,169 (41.1%) responded to the 2018–2019 survey, 35,902 respondents met study inclusion criteria, 13,107 deployed to the GW theater. GWI phenotypes were derived from Kansas (KS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) GWI definitions: (a) KS Symptoms (KS Sym+), (b) KS GWI (met symptom criteria and without exclusionary health conditions) [KS GWI: Sym+/Dx−], (c) CDC GWI and (d) CDC GWI Severe. The prevalence of each phenotype was 67.1% KS Sym+, 21.5% KS Sym+/Dx−, 81.1% CDC GWI, and 18.6% CDC GWI severe. These findings affirm the persistent presence of GWI among GW veterans providing a foundation for further exploration of biological and environmental underpinnings of this condition.

Keywords: gulf war; gulf war illness; chronic multisymptom illness; post-deployment health surveys; health outcomes; veteran (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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