Characterizing Deficit Accumulation Among Gulf War Era Veterans.
J Frailty Aging
; 13(3): 300-306, 2024.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39082776
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Veterans of the first Gulf War (1990-1991) are reaching middle and older adulthood in differing degrees of health and biological age. Many Gulf War veterans report myriad negative symptoms classified as Gulf War illness (GWI), a chronic multi-symptom illness.OBJECTIVES:
To describe and analyze deficit accumulation, among veterans with Severe GWI (SGWI+) and those without Severe GWI (SGWI-), to assess the association between a medically unexplained illness and aging.DESIGN:
This study uses a retrospective cohort design with quasi-longitudinal data.SETTING:
The recruitment sample included 10,042 Gulf War era veterans across all four US Census regions.PARTICIPANTS:
The analytic sample included 1,054 participants of the GWECB for whom SGWI case status could be determined and who had valid responses for at least 90% of the deficits included in the deficit accumulation index. MEASUREMENTS Chronic health conditions were retroactively reported, including year of diagnosis, enabling us to create a longitudinal measure of deficit accumulation. This deficit accumulation index (DAI) ranged from 0-1 for each respondent in each year between 1991-2013. We compare veterans with SGWI+ to those with SGWI- using the CDC case definition.RESULTS:
Most veterans in our sample could expect to spend more years with moderate or substantial deficits than without deficits. SGWI+ was associated with spending more years with substantial deficits than those with SGWI-. Veterans in middle age (age 35-65) experienced more years with substantial deficits than younger veterans. Individuals with SGWI+ had 13 times the hazard of accumulating substantial deficits than those without.CONCLUSIONS:
This study demonstrated that veterans with SGWI+, even those in midlife, experienced aging as measured by accumulating deficits. Practitioners should consider patients with multi-symptom illnesses as at risk of accelerated aging, tailoring treatments to address patients' holistic needs.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Veteranos
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Síndrome do Golfo Pérsico
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Guerra do Golfo
Limite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Frailty Aging
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article