Gulf War Veterans Measuring Health (1999) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 12-23
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 12... ...
troops deployed to the Gulf War differed from those involved in previous military engagements. Overall, they were older, a large proportion (about 17%)
|
From page 13... ...
create a database containing medical and other data on Gulf War veterans that would assist in addressing questions about possible future effects of exposures to air pollutants and other environmental agents; and
|
From page 14... ...
As time passed, it became apparent that several exposure issues and a host of symptoms needed further investigation. The VA diagnostic program for Gulf War veterans is divided into two phases, the Registry Exam and the Uniform Case Assessment Protocol (UCAP)
|
From page 15... ...
As can be seen from these data, Me demographic and military characteristics of Dose participating in Me registries differ from Me distributions of Rose characteristics in all Gulf War veterans. TABLE 1-2 Demographic and Military Service Characteristics of All Gulf War Veterans and Veterans Participating in the VA PGRfUCAP or the DoD CCEP % All Demographic or Gulf War % PGR/ % PGR or Military Service Veteransa UCAPb % CCEPC CCEP~ Characteristics (n = 696,530)
|
From page 16... ...
(n = 83,197) Marital Status Married 48.0 49.8 66.4 54.9 Single 45.1 42.6 26.8 37.7 No longer married 2.8 4.4 4.5 4.4 Unknown 4.1 3.2 2.3 2.9 Highest Level of Education Elementary school 0.5 1.4 0.3 1.0 High school 1.8 1.3 0.8 1.1 High school di ploma 73.7 749 73 7 747 Some college 2.5 2.8 5.0 3.5 Bachelor's degree 10.0 10.2 8.3 9.5 Master's degree 2.2 1.4 2.2 1.6 Post-master's de gree 4.1 4.0 6.1 4.7 Other/unknown 5.2 4.1 3.5 3.9 Branch Army 50.4 73.3 84.5 76.8 Air Force 11.9 6.4 6.8 6.5 Marine Corps 14.9 13.0 5.0 10.5 Navy 22.7 7.1 3.7 6.0 Coast Guard 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 Pay Grade Enlisted 89.3 93.2 89.9 92.2 Officer 9.5 5.6 7.7 6.3 Warrant 1.2 1.1 2.4 1.5 Military Component Active duty 83.9 60.7 91.1 70.9 Reserve and guard 16.1 39.3 8.9 29.1 aGulf War veterans include military personnel deployed to the Gulf between August 1, 1990, and July 31, 1991.
|
From page 17... ...
. A subsequent report observed that "tw~hile the number of Gulf War veterans who participated in the military operations known as Desert Shield and Desert Storm is well established at almost 700,000, the number who actually suffer, or believe they suffer, from illnesses related to their Gulf War service remains uncertain 7 years after the war" (GAO, 1998b:2~.
|
From page 18... ...
. The study also concluded that the CCEP was not appropriate as a research tool but that the results could and should be used to educate Gulf War veterans and the physicians caring for them, to improve the medical protocol itself, and to evaluate patient outcomes.
|
From page 19... ...
emphasized the need to treat veterans' symptoms whether or not there had been a diagnosis; the need to provide increased screening for depression, traumatic exposure, and substance abuse; the importance of conducting an evaluation across facilities to determine consistency in terms of examination and patterns of referral; and the need for greater coordination between the DoD and the VA, particularly relating to the ongoing treatment of patients. A separate IOM committee evaluated the adequacy of the VA medical program for Gulf War veterans (IOM, 1998~.
|
From page 20... ...
In response to the request from DoD and VA, IOM convened the Committee on Measuring the Health of Gulf War Veterans. The committee is composed of experts in outcomes analysis, study design, research methods, statistics, epidemiology, health status measurement, military health databases, clinical medicine, and Gulf War veterans' health.
|
From page 21... ...
The research portfolio and its centerpiece, a prospective cohort study, are intended to (1) monitor the current and future health status of Gulf War veterans; (2)
|
From page 22... ...
The definitions generally followed by DoD are those published in the final report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses 1 996a)
|
From page 23... ...
Chapter 4 describes the committee-developed portfolio of research studies for coordinating research efforts aimed at addressing questions about the health of Gulf War veterans. Chapter 5 details the components of the prospective cohort study designed by the committee, including its general design, sampling and scheduling issues, selection of survey modes and instruments, cost, ethical issues, and oversight responsibilities.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.