ABSTRACT
The assessment of psychiatric morbidity in veterans of the Persian Gulf conflict has been hampered by imprecise definition of the illnesses, the overlap with chronic fatigue syndromes, and by controversy regarding the role of stress in the causation of the syndrome. The complaints evaluated by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist were clustered to identify somatization, obsessive-compulsive states, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and anxiety. Statistical processing used factor analysis to identify clusters of symptoms in both groups. The magnitude of somatization phenomena correlates with the presence and severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms. However, a consensus is emerging that cultural and psychological factors are major contributors to the genesis and maintenance of Gulf War illness. The subjects had symptoms from at least one of the following categories: cognitive, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, gastrointestinal distress, and skin or mucous membrane lesions. In summary, the evidence indicates that Gulf War illness is characterized by multiple bodily complaints, somatic preoccupation, and somatic distress.
