Post-Deployment Health Services, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, District of Columbia.
Sigma Health Consulting, LLC, McLean, Virginia.
Am J Ind Med. 2020 Nov;63(11):980-987. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23172. Epub 2020 Aug 26.
Veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War were exposed to a variety of toxic substances during their service that included several airborne hazards, but only a few small studies have assessed respiratory outcomes in Gulf War veterans. This paper presents population prevalence estimates and prevalence ratios of respiratory disease among Gulf War and Gulf War Era veterans who use VA healthcare.
A total of 360,909 Gulf War deployed veterans and 323,638 Gulf War Era non-deployed veterans were included in the analysis. Ten-year period prevalence rates (PRs) for fifteen respiratory diseases were calculated for Gulf War and Gulf War Era veterans and period prevalence ratios comparing Gulf War veterans to Gulf War Era veterans were calculated.
The five respiratory conditions with the highest prevalence per 100,000 veterans across both Gulf War deployed and Gulf War Era non-deployed veterans (respectively) were: allergic rhinitis (8,400 and 8,041), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (4,763 and 4,795), asthma (4,685 and 4,477), chronic airway obstruction (3,983 and 4,059), and chronic sinusitis (2,863 and 2,672). The adjusted PRs showed a small, but significantly increased, elevation in Gulf War-deployed compared to Gulf War Era non-deployed veterans for chronic bronchitis (PR 1.19; 95% CI 1.10, 1.28), emphysema (PR 1.11; 95% CI 1.01, 1.21), chronic airway obstruction (PR 1.09; 95% CI 1.07, 1.12), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (PR 1.09; 1.07, 1.11).
Gulf War veterans should continue to be monitored in the future to better evaluate the potential long-term consequences on respiratory health.
1990-1991 年海湾战争的退伍军人在服役期间接触到了多种有毒物质，包括几种空气传播的危害，但只有少数小型研究评估了海湾战争退伍军人的呼吸道疾病结果。本文介绍了使用 VA 医疗保健的海湾战争退伍军人和海湾战争时代退伍军人的呼吸道疾病的人群患病率估计和患病率比值。
共纳入 360909 名海湾战争部署退伍军人和 323638 名海湾战争时代非部署退伍军人。计算了海湾战争和海湾战争时代退伍军人的 10 年期间患病率（PR），计算了比较海湾战争退伍军人与海湾战争时代退伍军人的时期患病率比值。
在海湾战争部署和海湾战争时代非部署退伍军人中，每 10 万名退伍军人中患病率最高的五种呼吸道疾病（分别）为：过敏性鼻炎（8400 和 8041）、慢性阻塞性肺疾病（4763 和 4795）、哮喘（4685 和 4477）、慢性气道阻塞（3983 和 4059）和慢性鼻窦炎（2863 和 2672）。调整后的 PR 显示，与海湾战争时代非部署退伍军人相比，海湾战争部署退伍军人慢性支气管炎（PR 1.19；95%CI 1.10，1.28）、肺气肿（PR 1.11；95%CI 1.01，1.21）、慢性气道阻塞（PR 1.09；95%CI 1.07，1.12）和慢性阻塞性肺疾病（PR 1.09；1.07，1.11）的发病率略有升高，但具有统计学意义。
未来应继续监测海湾战争退伍军人，以更好地评估对呼吸道健康的潜在长期影响。
