Is there a Gulf War syndrome?

Background UK veterans of the Gulf War report more ill health than servicem en who were not deployed to the Gulf War. We investigated whether the patte rn of symptom reporting by veterans of the Gulf War differed from that in a ctive servicemen who had not fought in the Gulf War or who had fought in ot her conflicts. Methods We used a population-based cross-sectional design. We sent a standa rdised survey that ashed about 50 physical symptoms to three UK military co horts; men who had served in the Gulf War, those who had served in the Bosn ia conflict, and men who had been in active service but not deployed to the Gulf War (Era cohort). We used exploratory factor analysis to identify und erlying factors and describe the factor structure of the symptoms reported in the Gulf War cohort. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the f it of this factor structure in the Bosnia and Era cohorts. Findings Three factors in the Gulf War cohort together accounted for about 20% of the common variance. We labelled the factors mood, respiratory syste m, and peripheral nervous system, according to the symptoms that loaded on to them. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the factor structure identifi ed in the Gulf War cohort fitted reasonably well in the Bosnia and Era coho rts. Interpretation Although results from complex modelling procedures need to b e interpreted with caution, our findings do not support a unique Gulf War s yndrome. The mechanisms behind increased self-reporting of symptoms need fu rther investigation.