A Re-Examination of Neuropsychological Functioning in Persian Gulf War Era Veterans
Abstract
The specific aims of this project were 1) to determine whether objective test measures reveal any progressive diminution in cognitive function among the GW-era veterans who participate in the study in 1995-1998 (Time 1) by comparing test performance observed initially to performance 4-5 years later and 2) to determine whether any identifiable declines in function are related to exposures experienced during deployment to the Gulf, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, or existence of multiple health complaints. Participants were deployed and non-deployed GW-era veterans who were tested at Time 1. The GW-deployed group included patients initially referred for clinical neuropsychological evaluations and a group of individuals seeking treatment or diagnostic evaluation for any purpose. Controls were treatment-seeking non deployed GW-era veterans studied between 1995-1998. The prior finding of differences between the deployed and non-deployed treatment seeking GW-era veterans in neuropsychological outcomes was not supported by the Time 2 data. This may reflect spurious findings at Time 1 or selection bias in the non-deployed group (high rates of major depression). The deployed veteran group did not perform worse at Time 2 than Time 1 suggesting that there was no progressive cognitive decline associated with GW deployment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA435096
Entities
People
- Roberta F. White
Organizations
- Boston University