War-related illness symptoms among Operation Iraqi Freedom/ Operation Enduring Freedom returnees.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to determine the pattern of war-related illness (WRI) symptoms among returnees of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) living on Long Island, NY.


METHODS
We conducted an anonymous mail survey of WRI symptoms of a random cohort of 786 returnees (718 male, 68 female) living on Long Island from among 5,500 who registered with the OIF/OEF Registry.


RESULTS
From among the 786 returnees whom we surveyed, we subsequently excluded 111 whose surveys were either returned unopened or who changed address. Two hundred seventy-four of the remaining 675 returnees responded to the survey (a 41% response rate). Disabling WRI symptoms were documented in approximately 2/3 of the responders and 75% of these responders had two or more symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
War-related illness symptoms are very common among OIF/OEF returnees suggesting the need for management strategies targeting their symptoms.


BACKGROUND
Military conflicts have produced war-related illness (WRI) among our troops and veterans since the Civil War. Common to all these WRIs are a group of symptoms including body pain, fatigue, headache, sleep disturbance, diarrhea, forgetfulness, and impaired concentration. Also common to them is the absence of a discernable pathophysiology. Because WRI is poorly understood, we cannot prevent new occurrences with each new engagement of our armed forces.
Amin
Mohammad M
MM
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 79 Middleville Road, Northport, NY 11768, USA.
Parisi
Joseph Anthony
JA
Gold
Morris S
MS
Gold
Avram R
AR
D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires