Table 1 Characteristics of all male responders, and of those reporting one or more new medical symptom since 1990
From: Self-reported ill health in male UK Gulf War veterans: a retrospective cohort study
Variable | ALL MALE RESPONDERS1 | MALE RESPONDERS REPORTING ≥ 1 NEW | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
MEDICAL SYMPTOM/DISEASE SINCE 19901 | ||||
GWV | NGWV | GWV | NGWV | |
n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
Total | 24,379 (100) | 18,439 (100) | 14,411 (100) | 6,670 (100) |
Age at time of survey (years) | ||||
20–29 | 5,506 (23) | 3,442 (19) | 3,361 (23) | 1,295 (19) |
30–34 | 7,871 (32) | 5,754 (31) | 4,523 (31) | 1,951 (29) |
35–39 | 5,492 (23) | 4,399 (24) | 3,222 (22) | 1,462 (22) |
40–44 | 3,019 (12) | 2,500 (14) | 1,797 (13) | 943 (14) |
≥45 | 2,491 (10) | 2,343 (13) | 1,508 (11) | 1,019 (15) |
Mean (SD) | 35(6.8) | 36(7.3) | 35(6.8) | 36(7.9) |
Service at time of Gulf War 2 | ||||
Army | 17,106 (70) | 12,559 (68) | 10,619 (74) | 4,750 (71) |
RN | 2,417 (10) | 2,110 (11) | 1,227 (9) | 658 (10) |
RAF | 4,856 (20) | 3,770 (21) | 2,565 (18) | 1,262 (19) |
Rank at time of Gulf War 2 | ||||
Officer | 3,202 (13) | 3,062 (17) | 1,616 (11) | 1,068 (16) |
Other ranks | 21,177 (87) | 15,377 (83) | 12,795 (89) | 5,602 (84) |
Serving status at time of survey | ||||
Still serving | 13,259 (54) | 10,553 (57) | 7,293 (51) | 3,366 (51) |
No longer serving | 11,120 (46) | 7,886 (43) | 7,118 (49) | 3,304 (50) |
Smoking | ||||
Ever | 13,514 (57) | 9,716 (54) | 8,468 (59) | 3,784 (57) |
Never | 10,390 (44) | 8,379 (46) | 5,865 (41) | 2,870 (43) |
Alcohol intake at time of survey (units per week) | ||||
None | 1,514 (7) | 1,190 (7) | 1,056 (8) | 531 (8) |
1–3 | 3,269 (14) | 2,377 (13) | 2,093 (15) | 1,002 (15) |
4–10 | 8,838 (38) | 6,848 (39) | 5,169 (37) | 2,398 (37) |
11–20 | 6,173 (26) | 4,767 (27) | 3,548 (25) | 1,638 (25) |
≥21 | 3,632 (16) | 2,538 (14) | 2,180 (16) | 958 (15) |
"Gulf war syndrome" | ||||
Yes | 1,324 (6) | 1,282 (9) | ||
No | 12,577 (53) | - | 4,925 (35) | - |
Not sure | 9,692 (41) | - | 8,041 (56) | - |