From Reuters, 10/18/00
Rank Linked to Health of Gulf War UK Veterans

LONDON (Reuters) - Lower ranking British veterans of the Gulf War have poorer health and suffer from more medical problems than their superiors, medical experts said on Wednesday.

Researchers at Guy's, King's and St. Thomas's Hospital in London said privates who served in the Gulf War were 20 percent more likely to report health problems than non-commissioned officers and 70 percent more likely than other officers.

``Rank was the main occupational factor associated with both psychological and physical ill health in Gulf veterans,'' Dr Khalida Ismail, of the Gulf War Illness Research Unit, said in a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Ismail and his colleagues studied more than 3,000 veterans, who had served in the war between September 1990 and June 1991, six or seven years after they returned. Fifty-seven percent of the veterans had left the armed forces at the time of the study which was adjusted for the numerical imbalance between lower ranks and officers.

``This study suggests that rank, and perhaps being deployed as an individual reinforcement in a combat role, are associated with poor health in UK Gulf veterans,'' Ismail added.

But the researchers said rank was not linked to Gulf War Syndrome, the mysterious illness characterized by a multitude of symptoms and thought to be linked to immunizations or exposure to pesticides or organophosphates. Most military staff, regardless of rank, were exposed to the same elements and given the same immunizations.

Men and women who had left the armed forces at the time of the study reported worse health than those who were still in the service.

``Gulf veterans who were divorced, separated or widowed were around twice as likely to report psychological problems than married or cohabiting veterans,'' Ismail and his colleagues added.