All-Cause Mortality Among US Veterans of the Persian Gulf War: 13-Year Follow-up.

Objective: We determined cause-specific mortality prevalence and risks of Gulf War deployed and nondeployed veterans to determine if deployed veterans were at greater risk than nondeployed veterans for death overall or because of certain diseases or conditions up to 13 years after conflict subsided.

Methods: Follow-up began when the veteran left the Gulf War theater or May 1, 1991, and ended on the date of death or December 31, 2004. We studied 621   901 veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War and 746   247 veterans who served but were not deployed during the Gulf War.

Risk of motor vehicle accident death among 1.3 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Objective: We conducted a cohort study of recent wartime veterans to determine the postservice mortality risk due to motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).

Methods: Veterans were identified from the Defense Manpower Data Center records. Deployment to te Iraq or Afghanistan war zone was determined from the Contingency Tracking System.

Social Information Processing in Anger Expression and Partner Violence in Returning U.S. Veterans.

We examined social information processing factors that could represent pathways through which posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms relate to anger expression and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in returning U.S. veterans.

PTSD diagnoses among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans: comparison of administrative data to chart review.

To guide budgetary and policy-level decisions, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) produces quarterly reports that count the number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with International Classification of Diseases, 9(th) Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 309.

HealthViEWS: mortality study of female US Vietnam era veterans, 1965-2010.

We conducted a retrospective study among 4,734 women who served in the US military in Vietnam (Vietnam cohort), 2,062 women who served in countries near Vietnam (near-Vietnam cohort), and 5,313 nondeployed US military women (US cohort) to evaluate the associations of mortality outcomes with Vietnam War service. Veterans were identified from military records and followed for 40 years through December 31, 2010. Information on underlying causes of death was obtained from death certificates and the National Death Index.

Self-reported post-exertional fatigue in Gulf War veterans: roles of autonomic testing.

To determine if objective evidence of autonomic dysfunction exists from a group of Gulf War veterans with self-reported post-exertional fatigue, we evaluated 16 Gulf War ill veterans and 12 Gulf War controls. Participants of the ill group had self- reported, unexplained chronic post-exertional fatigue and the illness symptoms had persisted for years until the current clinical study. The controls had no self-reported post-exertional fatigue either at the time of initial survey nor at the time of the current study.

Project VALOR: design and methods of a longitudinal registry of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat-exposed veterans in the Afghanistan and Iraqi military theaters of operations.

Few studies have investigated the natural history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Project VALOR (Veterans' After-discharge Longitudinal Registry) was designed as a longitudinal patient registry assessing the course of combat-related PTSD among 1600 male and female Veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Aims of the study include investigating patterns and predictors of progression or remission of PTSD and treatment utilization.

Longitudinal health study of US 1991 Gulf War veterans: changes in health status at 10-year follow-up.

The authors assessed changes in the health status of US 1991 Gulf War-era veterans from a 1995 baseline survey to a 2005 follow-up survey, using repeated measurement data from 5,469 deployed Gulf War veterans and 3,353 nondeployed Gulf War-era veterans who participated in both surveys. Prevalence differences in health status between the 2 surveys were estimated for adverse health indices and chronic diseases for each veteran group. Persistence risk ratios and incidence risk ratios were calculated after adjustment for demographic and military service characteristics through Mantel-Haenszel stratified analysis.

Selected Health Conditions Among Overweight, Obese, and Non-Obese Veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: Results from a Survey Conducted in 2003-2005.

BACKGROUND: Several health conditions and concerns have been reported to be increased among Gulf War veterans including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), CFS-like illness, and unexplained multi-symptom illness (MSI). As the cohort of Gulf War veterans advance in age, they are likely to be at risk of not only certain deployment-related health conditions but also chronic diseases associated with lifestyle factors. METHODS: To clarify relationships between PTSD, CFS-like illness, MSI, and obesity, we analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey of health information among population-based samples of 15,000 Gulf War veterans and 15,000 veterans who served during the same era.

Alcohol use and selected health conditions of 1991 Gulf War veterans: survey results, 2003-2005.

Introduction: A sizable literature has analyzed the frequency of alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking among veterans. However, few studies have examined patterns of alcohol use in veterans of the first Gulf War or factors associated with problem drinking in this population. We examined the frequency and patterns of alcohol use in male and female veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War or during the same era and the relationships between alcohol use and selected health conditions.

Investigating the risk of cancer in 1990-1991 US Gulf War veterans with the use of state cancer registry data.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether proportional cancer incidence is greater among Gulf War veterans compared with non-Gulf War veterans.

Methods: Files obtained from the Defense Manpower Data Center included data for 621,902 veterans who were deployed to the Persian Gulf during the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War (August 2, 1990, to March 1, 1991) and 746,248 non-Gulf War veteran controls. Identification of veterans who received a cancer diagnosis between 1991 and 2006 was accomplished through record linkage of the Defense Manpower Data Center dataset with files from 28 state cancer registries and the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry.

Mortality follow-up of veterans who participated in military chemical and biological warfare agent testing between 1962 and 1972.

Between 1962 and 1972, several thousand U.S. Navy personnel participated in Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense).

Neuropsychological functioning of U.S. Gulf War veterans 10 years after the war.

Many U.S. Gulf War-era veterans complained of poor cognition following the war.

Neurological mortality among U.S. veterans of the Persian Gulf War: 13-year follow-up.

Background: This study focuses on long-term mortality, specifically brain cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS) of 621,902 veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War (GW), and 746,248 non-GW veterans.

Methods: Follow-up began with the date the veteran left the GW theater or May 1, 1991 and ended with the date of death or December 31, 2004. Cox proportional hazard models were used for analyses.

Health of US veterans of 1991 Gulf War: a follow-up survey in 10 years.

Objective: To assess periodically the health status of a cohort of 1991 Gulf War veterans by comparing various health outcomes with those of their military peers who were not deployed to the Gulf.

Methods: We conducted a follow-up health survey to collect health information among population-based samples of 30,000 veterans (15,000 Gulf War veterans and 15,000 Gulf Era veterans) using a structured questionnaire.

Results: Gulf veterans reported significantly higher rates of unexplained multi-symptom illness, chronic fatigue syndrome-like illness, posttraumatic stress disorder, functional impairment, health care utilization, a majority of selected physical conditions and all mental disorders queried during the survey than did Gulf Era veteran controls.

Preliminary findings from a clinical demonstration project for veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Military veterans are at high risk for nicotine dependence. This clinical demonstration project used invitational letters, referral to the National Cancer Institute's Smoking Quitline, and local Veteran Affairs prescriptions for tobacco cessation to evaluate whether this low-cost method would potentially reduce smoking in separated veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Three cohorts (500 each) of recently separated veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq were contacted by survey letters.

Understanding sequelae of injury mechanisms and mild traumatic brain injury incurred during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan: persistent postconcussive symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder.

A cross-sectional study of military personnel following deployment to conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan ascertained histories of combat theater injury mechanisms and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and current prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and postconcussive symptoms. Associations among injuries, PTSD, and postconcussive symptoms were explored. In February 2005, a postal survey was sent to Iraq/Afghanistan veterans who had left combat theaters by September 2004 and lived in Maryland; Washington, DC; northern Virginia; and eastern West Virginia.

A study of Gulf War veterans with a possible deployment-related syndrome.

A previous symptom-based survey of veterans of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War suggested a neurological syndrome (blurred vision, loss of balance/dizziness, tremors/shaking, and speech difficulty). The authors conducted the present study to determine whether specific findings could indicate an organic basis for this possible syndrome. They completed an extensive clinical and laboratory evaluation on Gulf War veterans with all 4 symptoms, using 3 comparison groups.