Prevalence of Birth Defects Among Infants of Gulf War Veterans in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, and Iowa, 1989-1993

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies of birth defects among infants of Gulf War Veterans (GWV) have been limited to military hospitals, anomalies diagnosed among newborns, or sell-reported data. This study was conducted to measure the prevalence of birth defects among infants of GWVs and nondeployed veterans (NDV) in states that conducted active case ascertainment of birth defects between 1989-93. Military records of 684,645 GWVs and 1,387,102 NDVs were electronically linked with 2,314,908 birth certificates from Arizona, Hawaii, Iowa, and selected counties of Arkansas, California, and Georgia; 11,961 GWV infants and 33,052 NDV infants were identified. Of these, 450 infants had mothers who served in the Gulf War, and 3966 had NDV mothers. Infants conceived postwar to male GWVs had significantly higher prevalence of tricuspid valve inefficiency (relative risk RR, 2.7; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.1-6.6; p = 0.039) and aortic valve stenosis (RR, 6.0; 95% CI, 1.2-31.0; p = 0.026) compared to infants conceived postwar to NDV males. Among infants of male GWVs, aortic valve stenosis (RR, 16.3; 95% CI, 0.09-294; p =0.011) and renal agenesis or hypoplasia (RR, 16.3; 95% CI, 0.09-294; p =0.011) were significantly higher among infants conceived postwar than prewar. Hypospadias was significantly higher among infant sons conceived postwar to GWV woman compared to NDV women (RR, 6.3; 95% CI, 1.5-26.3; p =0.015). We observed a higher prevalence of tricuspid valve insufficiency, aortic valve stenosis, and renal agenesis or hypoplasia among infants conceived postwar to GWV men, and a higher prevalence of hypospadias among infants conceived postwar to female GWVs. We did not have the ability to determine if the excess was caused by inherited or environmental factors, or was due to chance because of myriad reasons, including multiple comparisons.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA419116

Entities

People

  • C. A. Hobbs
  • D. A. Destiche
  • D. Krishnamurti
  • J. A. Harris
  • K. M. Schlangen
  • L. D. Edmonds
  • M. R. Araneta
  • R. D. Merz
  • T. J. Flood

Organizations

  • Naval Health Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Congenital Abnormalities
  • Congenital Heart Defects
  • Genetics
  • Health Services
  • Heart Valve Diseases
  • Heart Valves
  • Medical Personnel
  • Musculoskeletal Abnormalities

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Analytical Mechanics
  • Gulf War Illness and Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans.
  • Women's Health and Cancer Risk Research: African American Women and Pregnancy Outcomes.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics