quality of life in Persian Gulf War Veterans
Sand-man
Mil Med 2001 Jun;166(6):510-9
Health-related quality of life in Persian Gulf
War Veterans.
Proctor SP, Harley R, Wolfe J, Heeren T, White
RF.
Boston Environmental Hazards Center, National
Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare
System, Boston, MA, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this investigation is
to describe the health-related quality of life of
Persian Gulf War (GW) veterans and to examine the
effects of current chronic medical conditions
and psychiatric status on physical functioning.
METHODS: To measure health-related quality of
life, the Medical Outcomes Short Form Survey
(SF36) was administered approximately 4 years
after the GW to a stratified, random sample of
New England-area GW-deployed veterans and a
group of military personnel deployed to Germany
during the GW. The SF36 scores for the
GW-deployed study population (N = 141) were
compared with those for the
Germany-deployed group (N = 46) and with
published U.S. population norms. Multiple linear
regression analyses were performed to identify
risk factors associated with lower physical health
functioning in the GW-deployed study group.
RESULTS: Functional health status was
significantly lower in the GW-deployed group
compared with the Germany-deployed group for
each of the SF36 subscales and the two summary
scores (Physical Component Summary [PCS]
and Mental Component Summary). Compared with the
general U.S. population, the
GW-deployed group median was between the 25th and
50th percentile for the Physical
Functioning subscale and the PCS score. Within
the GW-deployed group, lower education,
psychological symptomatology, and a higher number
of chronic self-reported medical conditions
were significant predictors of the PCS score.
CONCLUSION: GW-deployed veterans report
lower functional health status compared with a
group of Germany-deployed veterans and
published general U.S. population norms. Within
the group of GW-deployed veterans, several
current medical and psychological conditions
predictive of lower physical functioning levels
were
identified.
PMID: 11413729 [PubMed - in process]
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