The Million Veteran Program 1990–1991 Gulf War Era Survey: An Evaluation of Veteran Response, Characteristics, and Representativeness of the Gulf War Era Veteran Population

Kelly M. Harrington (), Rachel Quaden, Lea Steele, Drew A. Helmer, Elizabeth R. Hauser, Sarah T. Ahmed, Mihaela Aslan, Krishnan Radhakrishnan, Jacqueline Honerlaw, Xuan-Mai T. Nguyen, Sumitra Muralidhar, John Concato, Kelly Cho, J. Michael Gaziano, Stacey B. Whitbourne and on behalf of the VA Million Veteran Program
Additional contact information
Kelly M. Harrington: Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
Rachel Quaden: Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, 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
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: VA Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham, Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Sarah T. Ahmed: 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, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
Krishnan Radhakrishnan: Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
Jacqueline Honerlaw: Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
Xuan-Mai T. Nguyen: Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
Sumitra Muralidhar: Office of Research and Development, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC 20420, USA
John Concato: Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Kelly Cho: Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
J. Michael Gaziano: Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
Stacey B. Whitbourne: Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
on behalf of the VA Million Veteran Program: Collaborators/Membership of the VA Million Veteran Program is provided in the Appendix A.

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: To address gaps in understanding the pathophysiology of Gulf War Illness (GWI), the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) developed and implemented a survey to MVP enrollees who served in the U.S. military during the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War (GW). Eligible Veterans were invited via mail to complete a survey assessing health conditions as well as GW-specific deployment characteristics and exposures. We evaluated the representativeness of this GW-era cohort relative to the broader population by comparing demographic, military, and health characteristics between respondents and non-respondents, as well as with all GW-era Veterans who have used Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services and the full population of U.S. GW-deployed Veterans. A total of 109,976 MVP GW-era Veterans were invited to participate and 45,270 (41%) returned a completed survey. Respondents were 84% male, 72% White, 8% Hispanic, with a mean age of 61.6 years ( SD = 8.5). Respondents were more likely to be older, White, married, better educated, slightly healthier, and have higher socioeconomic status than non-respondents, but reported similar medical conditions and comparable health status. Although generally similar to all GW-era Veterans using VHA services and the full population of U.S. GW Veterans, respondents included higher proportions of women and military officers, and were slightly older. In conclusion, sample characteristics of the MVP GW-era cohort can be considered generally representative of the broader GW-era Veteran population. The sample represents the largest research cohort of GW-era Veterans established to date and provides a uniquely valuable resource for conducting in-depth studies to evaluate health conditions affecting 1990–1991 GW-era Veterans.

Keywords: Gulf War; Gulf War Illness; cohort studies; environmental exposures; generalizability; health outcomes; Million Veteran Program; Veterans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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