ArticleThorax2004
Respiratory health status of Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War and the effects of exposure to oil fire smoke and dust storms.
Article in Thorax, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of War on Asthma, a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: An EAACI Task Force Report.Allergy · 2026Pooled it
- Sulfur dioxide exposure of mice induces peribronchiolar fibrosis-A defining feature of deployment-related constrictive bronchiolitis.PloS one · 2025Article
- Sarcoidosis and burn pit exposure in military deployers to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Southwest Asia.Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG · 2023Article
- Gender-based Differences among 1990-1991 Gulf War Era Veterans: Demographics, Lifestyle Behaviors, and Health Conditions.Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health · 2019Article
- Veterans with Gulf War Illness exhibit distinct respiratory patterns during maximal cardiopulmonary exercise.PloS one · 2019Article
- An Analysis of Reported Dangerous Incidents, Exposures, and Near Misses amongst Army Soldiers.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Trends in brain cancer mortality among U.S. Gulf War veterans: 21 year follow-up.Cancer epidemiology · 2017Article
- Lifetime Prevalence of Respiratory Diseases and Exposures Among Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans: Results From the National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2016Article
- All-Cause Mortality Among US Veterans of the Persian Gulf War: 13-Year Follow-up.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974) · 2016Article
- Exposure to Deepwater Horizon Crude Oil Burnoff Particulate Matter Induces Pulmonary Inflammation and Alters Adaptive Immune Response.Environmental science & technology · 2015Article
- Gastrointestinal problems in modern wars: clinical features and possible mechanisms.Military Medical Research · 2015Article
- Constrictive bronchiolitis in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.The New England journal of medicine · 2011Article
- The long-term hospitalization experience following military service in the 1991 Gulf War among veterans remaining on active duty, 1994-2004.BMC public health · 2008Article
- Reproductive health of male Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.BMC public health · 2007Article
- Gulf War illness: a view from Australia.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2006Article
- The challenges of exposure assessment in health studies of Gulf War veterans.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2006Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince the 1991 Gulf War concerns have been raised about the effects on veterans' health of exposures to Kuwaiti oil fire smoke and to dust storms.
methodsA cross sectional study compared 1456 Australian Gulf War veterans with a randomly sampled military comparison group (n = 1588). A postal questionnaire asked about respiratory conditions, exposures, medications, tobacco use, demographic characteristics, and military service details. During a medical assessment, spirometric tests and a physical examination were performed and a respiratory questionnaire was administered.
resultsThe response rate for the Gulf War veteran group was 80.5% and for the comparison group 56.8%. Australian Gulf War veterans had a higher than expected prevalence of respiratory symptoms and respiratory conditions suggesting asthma (OR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1 to 1.9) and bronchitis first diagnosed since the Gulf War (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.2 to 3.1) but did not have poorer lung function or more ventilatory abnormalities than the comparison group. Veterans who reported exposure to oil fire smoke had slightly poorer forced vital capacity (difference between means -0.10 l; 95% CI -0.18 to -0.03) and those exposed to dust storms had a slightly better peak expiratory flow rate (difference between means 12.0 l/min; 95% CI 0.6 to 23.4) than veterans who did not report exposure. Veterans who were in the Gulf at or after the start of the oil fires had more respiratory conditions suggesting asthma (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.0 to 2.9) than those who completed their deployment before this time.
conclusionsIncreased self-reporting of respiratory symptoms, asthma, and bronchitis by veterans was not reflected in poorer lung function. The findings do not suggest major long term sequelae of exposure to oil fire smoke or dust storms.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.