McAndrew Lisa M, Helmer Drew A, Phillips L Alison, Chandler Helena K, Ray Kathleen, Quigley Karen S
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ;
J Rehabil Res Dev. 2016;53(1):59-70. doi: 10.1682/JRRD.2014.10.0255.
Many Veterans returning from service in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) experience chronic pain. What is not known is whether for some OIF/OEF Veterans this pain is part of a larger condition of diffuse multisystem symptoms consistent with chronic multisymptom illness (CMI). We use data from a prospective longitudinal study of OIF/OEF Veterans to determine the frequency of CMI. We found that 1 yr after deployment, 49.5% of OIF/OEF Veterans met criteria for mild to moderate CMI and 10.8% met criteria for severe CMI. Over 90% of Veterans with chronic pain met criteria for CMI. CMI was not completely accounted for either by posttraumatic stress disorder or by predeployment levels of physical symptoms. Veterans with symptoms consistent with CMI reported significantly worse physical health function than Veterans who did not report symptoms consistent with CMI. This study suggests that the presence of CMI should be considered in the evaluation of OIF/OEF Veterans. Further, it suggests the pain management for these Veterans may need to be tailored to take CMI into consideration.
许多从伊拉克自由行动/持久自由行动（OIF/OEF）服役归来的退伍军人都经历着慢性疼痛。尚不清楚的是，对于一些OIF/OEF退伍军人来说，这种疼痛是否是与慢性多症状疾病（CMI）相符的更广泛的弥漫性多系统症状状况的一部分。我们使用来自一项针对OIF/OEF退伍军人的前瞻性纵向研究的数据来确定CMI的发生率。我们发现，部署一年后，49.5%的OIF/OEF退伍军人符合轻度至中度CMI的标准，10.8%符合重度CMI的标准。超过90%患有慢性疼痛的退伍军人符合CMI的标准。创伤后应激障碍或部署前的身体症状水平均不能完全解释CMI。报告有与CMI相符症状的退伍军人的身体健康功能明显比未报告有与CMI相符症状的退伍军人差。这项研究表明，在评估OIF/OEF退伍军人时应考虑CMI的存在。此外，这表明对这些退伍军人的疼痛管理可能需要进行调整以考虑到CMI。
