Gray G C, Hawksworth A W, Smith T C, Kang H K, Knoke J D, Gackstetter G D
Emerging Illness Division, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA 92186-5122, USA.
Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Aug 15;148(4):343-9. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009651.
Since the Persian Gulf War ended in 1991, many veterans have sought medical evaluation in the Department of Veterans Affairs Persian Gulf Veterans' Health Registry (VA registry) or the Department of Defense's Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (DoD registry). Using combined data collected from 1993 to 1997 from the VA and DoD registries, the authors compared the characteristics of registry participants (n=74,653) with those of all Gulf War veterans (n=696,531) to determine the personnel most likely to seek medical evaluation. Using multiple logistic regression, the authors found that service branch and type were strongly associated with registry participation, with Army (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=4.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.6-4.9) and National Guard (OR=2.6, 95% CI 2.5-2.6) personnel at highest odds compared with reference category personnel. Registry participants also were more likely to have been stationed in the Gulf War theater during the fighting (OR=2.2), to be older (>31 years/<22 years OR=2.1), to have been an enlisted person (OR=2.0), to have been construction workers (OR=1.3), to be female (OR=1.3), and to have been hospitalized during the 12-month period before the war (OR=1.2). These findings are useful in generating hypotheses regarding postwar morbidity. They also suggest that subpopulations of Gulf War veterans have a higher prevalence of symptoms and merit further study.
自1991年海湾战争结束以来，许多退伍军人在退伍军人事务部海湾战争退伍军人健康登记处（VA登记处）或国防部的综合临床评估计划（国防部登记处）寻求医学评估。作者利用从1993年至1997年从VA和国防部登记处收集的综合数据，将登记参与者（n = 74,653）的特征与所有海湾战争退伍军人（n = 696,531）的特征进行比较，以确定最有可能寻求医学评估的人员。通过多元逻辑回归分析，作者发现军种和类型与登记参与密切相关，与参照组人员相比，陆军人员（调整后的优势比（OR）= 4.7，95%置信区间（CI）4.6 - 4.9）和国民警卫队人员（OR = 2.6，95% CI 2.5 - 2.6）的优势最大。登记参与者也更有可能在战斗期间驻扎在海湾战争战区（OR = 2.2），年龄较大（>31岁/<22岁，OR = 2.1），是应征入伍人员（OR = 2.0），是建筑工人（OR = 1.3），是女性（OR = 1.3），并且在战前12个月内曾住院（OR = 1.2）。这些发现有助于生成有关战后发病率方面的假设。它们还表明，海湾战争退伍军人的亚群体症状患病率较高，值得进一步研究。
