Health consequences of the first Persian Gulf War on French troops

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-deploy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of epidemiology Vol. 35; no. 2; pp. 479 - 487
Main Authors:	Salamon, R, Verret, C, Jutand, M A, Bégassat, M, Laoudj, F, Conso, F, Brochard, P
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford Oxford University Press 01-04-2006 Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
Subjects:	Adult Analysis. Health state Back Pain - epidemiology Back Pain - etiology Biological and medical sciences cross-sectional study Epidemiologic Methods Epidemiology Female France - epidemiology General aspects Gulf War Gulf War syndrome Gulf War Veterans Headache Disorders - epidemiology Headache Disorders - etiology Humans Male Medical sciences Mental Disorders - epidemiology Mental Disorders - etiology Middle Aged Military Personnel - statistics & numerical data Nervous System Diseases - epidemiology Nervous System Diseases - etiology Occupational Diseases - epidemiology Occupational Diseases - etiology Occupational Exposure - adverse effects Occupational Exposure - analysis Persian Gulf Syndrome - epidemiology Persian Gulf Syndrome - etiology Public health. Hygiene Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine Veterans Persian gulf states France Asia Europe ISW, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf Human epidemiology. Gulf War Veterans Gulf War Cross sectional study Gulf war syndrome War cross-sectional study Epidemiology Public health Military
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Summary:	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.
Bibliography:	Corresponding author: INSERM U593, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, case no.11, 146, rue Léo-Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. E-mail: Roger.Salamon@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr ark:/67375/HXZ-DBDLNRHQ-5 local:dyi318 istex:C08A92560577659C392B1A9638292B75BAA0CF97 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0300-5771 1464-3685
DOI:	10.1093/ije/dyi318