ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2025
"They Make It So Hard on You": How Rurality Shapes Veterans' Health Experiences When Managing Gulf War Illness.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGulf War illness (GWI) is characterized by multiple, persistent symptoms (e.g., fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, concentration problems, and gastrointestinal disorders) across more than one body system that are severe enough to interfere with daily functioning. For Veterans in rural areas, the confluence of geographic barriers and GWI may create unique challenges when navigating health care, given the range of specialty care needed to support GWI. However, little is known about how rural Veterans manage their GWI symptoms and navigate health care systems.
objectiveTo examine how Veterans with GWI perceive rurality to influence their health care experiences.
designA cross-sectional qualitative study utilizing Health Experiences Research methodology.
participantsVeterans with GWI, who served in the active-duty US military, National Guard, or Reserves during the 1990-1991 Gulf War (GW) and who connected rurality to their health care experiences during interviews. APPROACH: Secondary qualitative analysis and inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, conducted between November 2018 and August 2021, with Veterans about their military and health experiences over time. KEY
resultsFifteen (n = 15) Veterans with GWI connected rurality to their health care experiences and quality of life. Three themes emerged from their interviews: (1) GWI and rural residence amplified problems with care coordination; (2) Managing GWI made distance especially burdensome; and (3) Rural contexts facilitated wellness and support, while creating barriers to accessing care.
conclusionOur findings suggest that rurality intersects with GWI management in ways that compound barriers to health care access for Veterans. VA can address time and distance barriers by continuing to expand specialty telehealth services and telehealth training for providers and patients. VA could also incorporate recommendations from the VA/DoD clinical practice guidelines into point-of-care decision support to enhance recognition of GWI and improve consistency of treatment, which may contribute to trust-building among GW Veterans.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.