Multidisciplinary treatment of persistent symptoms after Gulf War service.
Research suggests that individuals commonly describe persistent symptoms or syndromes after a war. After the Persian Gulf War, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense initiated registries and expedited health care for those with Gulf War-related health concerns. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Gulf War Health Center was created in mid-1994 to contribute a continuum of care for those with Gulf War-related health problems. The purpose of this report is to describe the Gulf War Health Center's Specialized Care Program, a 3-week intensive outpatient multidisciplinary treatment program for people with persistent, disabling Gulf War-related symptoms. The program uses an evidence-based model of multidisciplinary care employed at chronic pain centers internationally and shown to yield stable improvements in pain, mood, health care use, and return to work rates. A patient is described to illustrate how the program works. Finally, a Deployment Medicine Treatment Center is proposed, a multidisciplinary treatment center like the Specialized Care Program that would offer care to those with persistent, disabling symptoms after all future deployments.
Engel
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Gulf War Health Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC 20307, USA.
Roy
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Kayanan
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Ursano
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D000328:Adult; D003191:Comprehensive Health Care; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D018923:Persian Gulf Syndrome / Q000628:therapy*