Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38291474›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental health : a global access science source2024

Olfactory and cognitive decrements in 1991 Gulf War veterans with gulf war illness/chronic multisymptom illness.

Linda L Chao

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental health : a global access science source, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Assessment and behavioural management options for older adults with declined smell and taste functions: a scoping review.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Linda L ChaoDepartments of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging and Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of Calfiornia, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA. linda.chao@ucsf.edu.
University of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

Longitudinal assessment of Gulf War veterans with suspected Sarin exposureI01CX000798 · VA · VETERANS AFFAIRS MED CTR SAN FRANCISCO · PI Linda L Chao · 2014 to 2026
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CSRD Research Career Scientist Award ApplicationIK6CX002522 · VA · VETERANS AFFAIRS MED CTR SAN FRANCISCO · PI Linda L Chao · 2022 to 2026
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CSRD VA I01 CX000798CSRD VA IK6 CX002522
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundGulf War illness (GWI)/Chronic Multisymptom Illness (CMI) is a disorder related to military service in the 1991 Gulf War (GW). Prominent symptoms of GWI/CMI include fatigue, pain, and cognitive dysfunction. Although anosmia is not a typical GWI/CMI symptom, anecdotally some GW veterans have reported losing their sense smell shortly after the war. Because olfactory deficit is a prodromal symptom of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, and because we previously reported suggestive evidence that deployed GW veterans may be at increased risk for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia, the current study examined the relationship between olfactory and cognitive function in deployed GW veterans.

methodsEighty deployed GW veterans (mean age: 59.9  ±7.0; 4 female) were tested remotely with the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Veterans also completed self-report questionnaires about their health and deployment-related exposures and experiences. UPSIT and MoCA data from healthy control (HC) participants from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) study were downloaded for comparison.

resultsGW veterans had a mean UPSIT score of 27.8  ± 6.3 (range 9-37) and a mean MoCA score of 25.3  ± 2.8 (range 19-30). According to age- and sex-specific normative data, 31% of GW veterans (vs. 8% PPMI HCs) had UPSIT scores below the 10th percentile. Nearly half (45%) of GW veterans (vs. 8% PPMI HCs) had MoCA scores below the cut-off for identifying MCI. Among GW veterans, but not PPMI HCs, there was a positive correlation between UPSIT and MoCA scores (Spearman's ρ = 0.39, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in UPSIT or MoCA scores between GW veterans with and without history of COVID or between those with and without Kansas GWI exclusionary conditions.

conclusionsWe found evidence of olfactory and cognitive deficits and a significant correlation between UPSIT and MoCA scores in a cohort of 80 deployed GW veterans, 99% of whom had CMI. Because impaired olfactory function has been associated with increased risk for MCI and dementia, it may be prudent to screen aging, deployed GW veterans with smell identification tests so that hypo- and anosmic veterans can be followed longitudinally and offered targeted neuroprotective therapies as they become available.

Indexed as

DementiaParkinson DiseasePersian Gulf SyndromeVeteransAgedCognitionFemaleGulf WarHumansMaleMiddle AgedSmellCognitionCognitiveGulf warOlfaction, neurotoxicantVeterans

Identifiers

PMID38291474
PMCPMC10825982
OpenAlexW4391350328

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.