IJE Advance Access originally published online on January 24, 2006
International Journal of Epidemiology 2006 35(2):479-487; doi:10.1093/ije/dyi318
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Article |
Health consequences of the first Persian Gulf War on French troops
1 Department of Epidemiology, Public Health and Development (INSERM U593), Victor Segalen University Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
2 Clinic of Occupational Diseases, Cochin Hospital, AP-HP, Paris 5 University, Paris, France
3 Laboratory of Occupational and Environmental Health, Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 University, Bordeaux, France
* Corresponding author: INSERM U593, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, case no.11, 146, rue Léo-Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. E-mail: Roger.Salamon{at}isped.u-bordeaux2.fr
Summary Since 1993, many studies on the health of Persian Gulf War Veterans (PGWV) have been undertaken. These studies have concluded that there has been an increased mortality due to external causes, no excess of recognized diseases, and no effect on PGWV children. When compared with the non-deployed, PGWV have reported a higher frequency of infertility as well as different symptoms, but a specific Gulf War syndrome was not identified. In October 2000, the French government asked an independent working group to analyse the scientific literature on PGWV health. The group concluded that an exhaustive study of French PGWV was to be undertaken. The objectives of this study were to describe the exposures of PGWV in the operations theatre, to report on the symptoms and diseases that occurred in PGWV and their children during and after the military campaign, and to explore the possibility of a Gulf War syndrome. This exhaustive cross-sectional study, which included all civilians and troops who served in the Gulf from August 1990 to July 1991, began in January 2002. Data were collected by postal self-administered questionnaires. A standardized clinical evaluation was performed by 27 clinics of occupational diseases and nine military hospitals. Symptoms and diseases which appeared after the campaign are described.
To date, among 20 261 PGWV, 5666 participated in the study (28%). The most frequent symptoms described since the return from the Gulf were headaches (83%), neurological or psychological symptoms, and back pain. Apart from well-known symptoms associations (respiratory, neurocognitive, psychological and musculo-skeletal syndromes), no other cluster was highlighted by our analysis.
Keywords Gulf War, cross-sectional study, epidemiology, Gulf War Veterans, Gulf War syndrome
Accepted 20 December 2005