Gulf War Era Veterans' perspectives on research: a qualitative study

Grewe, Mary E; Khalil, Lara; Felder, Kristina A; Goldstein, Kenneth M.; McNeil, Rebecca B.; Sims, Kellie J.; Provenzale, Dawn; Voils, Corrine I.

doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2021.120113

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Alternatively, the higher degree of medical comorbidity seen in respondents (per the CCI) may be an artifact of their higher healthcare utilization, providing more opportunity for documenting ICD diagnostic codes. These findings are generally consistent with previous studies that have identified motivational factors that influence Veterans' participation in health research, including altruism, giving back to the medical community for the care they have received, and a desire to help scientists learn how to treat other Veterans with the same disease, which seem to be particularly strong among Veterans with armed combat experience [40][41][42].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

The Million Veteran Program 1990–1991 Gulf War Era Survey: An Evaluation of Veteran Response, Characteristics, and Representativeness of the Gulf War Era Veteran Population

Harrington,

Quaden,

Steele

et al. 2024

IJERPH

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To address gaps in understanding the pathophysiology of Gulf War Illness (GWI), the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) developed and implemented a survey to MVP enrollees who served in the U.S. military during the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War (GW). Eligible Veterans were invited via mail to complete a survey assessing health conditions as well as GW-specific deployment characteristics and exposures. We evaluated the representativeness of this GW-era cohort relative to the broader population by comparing demographic, military, and health characteristics between respondents and non-respondents, as well as with all GW-era Veterans who have used Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services and the full population of U.S. GW-deployed Veterans. A total of 109,976 MVP GW-era Veterans were invited to participate and 45,270 (41%) returned a completed survey. Respondents were 84% male, 72% White, 8% Hispanic, with a mean age of 61.6 years (SD = 8.5). Respondents were more likely to be older, White, married, better educated, slightly healthier, and have higher socioeconomic status than non-respondents, but reported similar medical conditions and comparable health status. Although generally similar to all GW-era Veterans using VHA services and the full population of U.S. GW Veterans, respondents included higher proportions of women and military officers, and were slightly older. In conclusion, sample characteristics of the MVP GW-era cohort can be considered generally representative of the broader GW-era Veteran population. The sample represents the largest research cohort of GW-era Veterans established to date and provides a uniquely valuable resource for conducting in-depth studies to evaluate health conditions affecting 1990–1991 GW-era Veterans.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

The Million Veteran Program 1990–1991 Gulf War Era Survey: An Evaluation of Veteran Response, Characteristics, and Representativeness of the Gulf War Era Veteran Population

Harrington,

Quaden,

Steele

et al. 2024

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…These included concerns about privacy and confidentiality, and distrust with federal institutions. 13,22 Our findings, overall, suggest that Veterans' attitudes toward epigenomic research are similar to their attitudes toward other types of health and genetic research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Like other studies of Veterans' perspectives toward research participation, we found a wide range of reasons why Veterans may choose to participate. Other studies have also found that Veterans are motivated to participate in research by the potential to learn about the causes of their health issues, [13][14][15]21,22 but this is not always the primary motivation. 13,14 One study of Iraq-and Afghanistan-deployed US Veterans found that main motivations to participate in health-related research were adequate compensation, desire to help other Veterans, and the perceived significance of the research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Holy cow, where do I sign up?” Attitudes of Military Veterans toward Epigenomic Biomarker Toxic Exposure Testing

Pereira,

Apodaca,

Slominski

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background: With the signing of the PACT Act in 2022, there is great interest and investment in studying toxic exposures encountered during military service. One way to address this is through the identification of epigenomic biomarkers associated with exposures. There is increasing evidence suggesting that exposure to toxic substances may result in alterations to DNA methylation and resultant gene expression. These epigenomic changes may lead to adverse health effects for exposed individuals and their offspring. While the development of epigenomic biomarkers for exposures could facilitate understanding of these exposure-related health effects, such testing could also provide unwanted information. Objectives: Explore Veterans' attitudes toward epigenomic biomarker research and the potential to test for past exposures that could pose intergenerational risk. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with Veterans (n=22) who experienced potentially harmful exposures during their military service. Results: Twenty Veterans said they would hypothetically want to receive epigenomic information related to their toxic exposures and potential health impacts as part of a research study. Veterans identified nine potential benefits of this research, including promoting insights concerning intergenerational health, identification of early health interventions to mitigate the impact of exposures, and additional knowledge or explanation for their experiences. At the same time, 16 participants noted potential risks, including psychological distress in response to results, concerns about receiving non-actionable, uncertain, or inaccurate results, and issues related to privacy and discrimination. Ten participants also identified at least one condition in their children that they thought could be related to their exposure and most said they would be interested in receiving research results related to their children's and grandchildren's risk of developing a health condition associated with their exposure. Discussion: Results suggest that Veterans might welcome benefits of epigenomic research related to military exposures yet have some concerns about potential negative impacts.

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Caracterización de las infecciones de herida entre pacientes procedentes de la guerra ruso-ucraniana en un hospital Role 4

Rodero Roldán,

Yuste Benavente,

Martínez Álvarez

et al. 2024

Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica

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Gulf War Era Veterans' perspectives on research: a qualitative study

Cited by 7 publications

References 25 publications

The Million Veteran Program 1990–1991 Gulf War Era Survey: An Evaluation of Veteran Response, Characteristics, and Representativeness of the Gulf War Era Veteran Population

The Million Veteran Program 1990–1991 Gulf War Era Survey: An Evaluation of Veteran Response, Characteristics, and Representativeness of the Gulf War Era Veteran Population

“Holy cow, where do I sign up?” Attitudes of Military Veterans toward Epigenomic Biomarker Toxic Exposure Testing

Caracterización de las infecciones de herida entre pacientes procedentes de la guerra ruso-ucraniana en un hospital Role 4

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