Subjective cognitive complaints, affective distress, and objective cognitive performance in Persian Gulf war veterans

We examined subjective cognitive complaints, affective distress, and cognit ive performance in Persian Gulf veterans who reported illness and cognitive complaints We predicted a stronger relationship between subjective cogniti ve complaints and affective distress than between subjective cognitive comp laints and objective cognitive performance. This prediction was confirmed i n a sample of 100 veterans. The results suggest that cognitive impairment s hould not be diagnosed in this population without objective confirmation wi th cognitive testing. (C) 1999 National Academy of Neuropsychology. Publish ed by Elsevier Science Ltd.