Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology Is Associated With Unexplained Illness Attributed to Persian Gulf War Military Service

Datos Bibliográficos

ID19306142
AutoresJulián D Ford (0000-0001-7923-0658, University of Connecticut), Keith A Campbell (0000-0002-3610-5256), Daniel Storzbach, Laurence M Binder, W Kent Anger, Diane S Rohlman (0000-0002-6697-1577)
Año2001
Volumen63
Número5
Páginas842-849
Fecha de publicación2001-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPsychosomatic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0033-3174 • E-ISSN: 1534-7796
EditorialOvid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/00006842-200109000-00019
PMID11573034
OpenAlexW2080450846
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas53

OBJECTIVE: Controversy exists concerning unexplained illness in Persian Gulf War veterans, especially regarding the contribution of psychological trauma. We sought to determine if war zone trauma or posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS) are associated with illnesses reported by Gulf War veterans that were documented by medical examination but not attributable to a medical diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 1119 (55% response rate) of 2022 randomly sampled veterans of the United States Persian Gulf War were screened and 237 cases and 113 controls were identified by medical examination for a case-control study comparing Persian Gulf War military veterans with or without medically documented, but unexplained, symptoms. Multivariate logistic regression and cross-validation analyses examined self-report measures of demographics, subjective physical symptoms and functioning, psychiatric symptoms, stressors, war zone trauma, and PTSS, to identify correlates of case-control status. RESULTS: Posttraumatic stress symptomatology and somatic complaints were independently associated with case status, as were (although less consistently) war zone trauma and depression. Age, education, and self-reported health, stress-related somatization, pain, energy/fatigue, illness-related functional impairment, recent stressors, and anxiety were univariate (but not multivariate) correlates of case status. CONCLUSIONS: PTSS related to war zone trauma warrants additional prospective research study and attention in clinical screening and assessment as a potential contributor to the often debilitating physical health problems experienced by Persian Gulf War veterans

Anxiety · Depression (economics) · Gulf war · Military medicine · Persian · Psychiatry · Somatization · Stressor · Clinical Psychology · Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research · Medicine · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research · Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments