Veterans With Gulf War Illness: Understanding the Spectrum of Experiences Related to Aging and Demographics

Abstract

Many veterans who served in the 1990-91 Gulf War developed chronic symptoms that could not be explained by established medical diagnoses or standard laboratory tests. These included physical symptoms like widespread pain, muscle aches, headaches, persistent problems with memory and thinking, fatigue, breathing problems, digestive problems, and, skin abnormalities. Accompanying these physical challenges were changes in behavior and challenges in interpersonal relationships. The cluster of symptoms is referred to as Gulf War Illness (GWI) and is estimated to have affected 175,000 to 250,000 of the nearly 700,000 troops deployed to the Gulf War. Despite being over two decades out since the war, there have been no studies to date that focus on the individual and unique experiences of veterans with GWI including their perceptions of the impact of the illness, differences in experiences related to aspects like aging and gender, quality of care received, barriers faced, and, the related impact on interpersonal relationships, and, quality of life. The main research questions for the study were as follows: What are the perceptions and experiences of veterans with GWI regarding symptoms of physical health, cognitive functioning, quality of life as well as the quality of care they receive? In addition, the study will explore experiences related to the natural process of aging; differences in experiences across demographic characteristics (e.g. gender, race/ ethnicity, type of exposure etc.) as well as capture the perceptions and experiences of healthcare providers who serve Veterans with GWI. Data for the study included narrative interviews as well as collage self-portraits of Veterans' experiences of living with GWI. This research led to the development of an educational curriculum for healthcare providers that includes recent research on GWI and qualitative perspectives from a range of Veterans living with the illness.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2023
Accession Number
AD1216677

Entities

People

  • Girija Kaimal
  • Rebekka Dieterich-Hartwell

Organizations

  • Drexel University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Data Analysis
  • Department Of Defense
  • Distance Learning
  • Electronic Mail
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Laboratory Tests
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Psychology
  • Persian Gulf Syndrome
  • Professional Development
  • Psychology
  • Quality Of Life
  • Standards
  • Students

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.