Neuropsychological function in Gulf War Veterans: Relationships to self-reported toxicant exposures

Background The present study was aimed at (1) exploring evidence of central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction among Gulf War (GW) veterans on neuropsyc hological tests and (2) examining whether performance on neuropsychological tests was related to specific neurotoxicant exposures experienced in the G ulf Methods The GW-deployed groups were selected using stratified random sampli ng methods from two distinct cohorts of GW veterans. A comparison group tha t had been called up for GW service but deployed to Germany rather than the Gulf also was examined. Neuropsychological function was assessed using a p re-determined battery chosen to include tests known to be highly sensitive to the behavioral effects of the neurotoxicants thought to have been presen t in the Gulf. Results Self-reported exposures were related to neuropsychological test per formance controlling for post-traumatic stress disorder major depression, a nd other known covariates of neuropsychological test performance. Results s howed that GW-deployed veterans performed more poorly than the Germany-depl oyed veterans on several specific neuropsychological tests, but after adjus tment for multiple comparisons, only the differences in mood complaints rem ained significant. Within the GW-deployed group, self-reported exposure to chemical warfare agents was associated with poorer performance on cognitive tests involving specific functional domains. Conclusions Results provide evidence that there are subtle differences in C NS function among GW-deployed veterans who report chemical warfare agent ex posure while in the GW theater. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.