Table 3.
The association between deployment to the Gulf War and joint pain amongst veterans
| Study | Period of prevalence estimate | Prevalence GWV | Prevalence NGV | OR (95% CI) | % weight in meta-analysis |
| Sostek 1996 | Current symptoms | 74% | 30% | 6.68 (2.78–16.1) | 3.5 |
| Doebbeling 2000 | Symptoms past 12 months | 37% | 16% | 3.08 (2.64–3.61) | 11.2 |
| Fukuda 1998 | Current symptoms Symptoms for 6 months |
36% 18% |
13% 6% |
3.77 (3.19–4.45) | 11.1 |
| Proctor 1998 | Symptoms past month | FD 33% NO 32% |
16% | 2.41 (1.08–5.39) | 4.0 |
| Ishoy 1999 | No numerical data | ||||
| Unwin 1999 | Symptoms past month | 32.2% | Bosnia 13.8% Era 14.4% |
2.82 (2.46–3.23) | 11.4 |
| Unwin 2002 | Symptoms past month | 27.8% | Bosnia 12.7% Era 10.8% |
3.16 (1.85–5.40) | 6.4 |
| Kang 2000 | Time period unclear | 45% | 27% | 2.21 (2.09–2.34) | 11.9 |
| Knoke 2000 | Current symptoms | 14.1% | 4.7% | 3.33 (2.25–4.92) | 8.2 |
| Steele 2000 | Symptoms past 12 months | 37% | 15% | 3.35 (2.50–4.49) | 9.5 |
| Gray 2002 | Symptoms past 12 months | 37.9% | DEV 16.8% NDV 13.6% |
3.02 (2.74–3.33) | 11.6 |
| Kelsall 2004 | Symptoms past month | 35% | 29% | 1.30 (1.12–1.52) | 11.2 |
| Summary OR (95% CI) |
2.81 (2.31–3.42) Heterogeneity χ2 = 144.7, df = 10, P < 0.001 |
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GWV – Gulf War veterans; NGV – non-Gulf veterans.
OR – odds ratio. Individual study ORs based on published prevalence data and not adjusted for confounders.
Summary OR – weighted average of all individual study ORs, derived from "metan" command in Stata version 9.0 using a random effect model and DerSimonian and Laird method.
Fukuda 1998: data on current symptoms used in meta-analysis.
Proctor 1998: FD – Fort Devens sample, NO – New Orleans sample; combined prevalence in FD and NO vs NGV compared in meta-analysis
Unwin 1999/2002: GWV vs Era controls compared in meta-analysis.
Gray 2002: DEV – deployed elsewhere veterans, NDV – non-deployed veterans; GWV vs DEV compared in meta-analysis.