Chronic widespread pain in veterans of the first Gulf War: Impact of deployment status and associated health effects "Source: The Journal of Pain, Dec 2007"
by Valerie Forman-Hoffman, et al.
ImmuneSupport.com02-15 2008
________________________________________________
Our study sought to: 1) determine if deployment status is associated with chronic widespread pain (CWP), and 2) evaluate whether veterans with CWP have greater psychiatric comorbidity, higher health care utilization, and poorer health status than veterans without CWP.Five years after the conclusion of the first Gulf War (August 1990 to June 1991), we conducted a cross-sectional study of veterans who listed Iowa as the home of record using a stratified sampling design to determine their health status. We compared the prevalence of CWP between deployed and nondeployed veterans.
Logistic and multiple linear regression models were constructed to test whether CWP was associated with comorbidities and health-related outcomes of interest.
• Five hundred ninety of 3,695 veterans interviewed (16%) had CWP.
• Gulf deployment was associated with higher prevalence of CWP than deployment elsewhere (OR = 2.03, 95%CI = 1.60-2.58), after adjustment.
• Both deployed and nondeployed veterans with CWP reported more health care utilization and comorbidities and lower health-related quality of life scores than veterans without CWP.
• Deployed veterans were more likely to have CWP than nondeployed veterans, and
• CWP was associated with poor health outcomes.
Military and medical personnel should be aware that efforts to prevent, identify, and treat
CWP in veterans returning from the current war may be needed.Perspective: This article indicates that deployed veterans may have an increased risk for development of CWP, which is associated with greater healthcare utilization and comorbidity and lower quality of life. The risk of poor health outcomes suggests that veterans returning from the present conflict should be screened for CWP on their return.
Source: The Journal of Pain. 2007 Dec;8(12):954-61. PMID: 17704006, by Forman-Hoffman VL, Peloso PM, Black DW, Woolson RF, Letuchy EM, Doebbeling BN. Center for Research in the Implementation of Innovative Strategies in Practice, Iowa City Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. [E-mail: [email protected] ]
_________________________________________________
Democrat slows Hutchison's veterans debt relief bill02/15/2008
By SUZANNE GAMBOA / Associated Press
__________________________________________________
The chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee has slowed movement of a bill that would erase debts owed by troops killed in combat to the Veterans Affairs Department.Sen. Daniel Akaka, the Democratic chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, stopped Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison late Thursday from bypassing the committee process and pushing her bill straight to a vote, a procedure known as hotlining.
Akaka said Friday that the bill would first be considered in a committee hearing, planned for May 7.
"The bill is narrowly defined and there may be others well deserving of forgiveness," said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, Akaka's spokesman.
Hutchison, R-Texas, filed the bill last month. It would erase debts of troops killed in the Gulf War or since Sept. 11, 2001. When she filed the bill, Hutchison said VA was trying to collect more than $56,000 from 22 soldiers who had died in combat.
At least three Texas families have been contacted about debt owed by soldiers killed in combat, Hutchison spokesman Matt Mackowiak said.
Most of the debt is college loans. After a soldier is killed, VA must contact the family by letter saying the debt is owed. The department has the discretion to waive the debt but must always send the letter. The agency supports the legislation.
Akaka has asked the department to suspend collection of such debts while the bill goes through the legislative process.
"Obviously, we're disappointed that the Senate missed an opportunity to pass this," Mackowiak said.
Akaka sent a letter to VA Secretary James Peake asking several questions, including:
_ How do other federal agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service handle debts of veterans killed in action?
_ Should the debts of troops killed in training also be forgiven?
_ What about a veteran who dies 20 years after discharge from injuries incurred in combat?
Akaka also expressed concern about debts incurred through fraud or bad faith and whether they should be forgiven.
__
On the Net: Sen. Daniel Akaka: http://www.akaka.senate.gov