Reproductive Outcomes Among Gulf War Era US Military Veterans: Miscarriages May Be Increased

• Main Authors: Sato, Paul A, Hiliopoulos, Katia M, Wang, Linda, Anderson, Christy M, Kamens, Deborah R, Major, Jacqueline M, Morn, Cassandra B, Problete, Pamela P, Zau, Andrew C, Gray, Gregory C
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: BIRTH; ETHNIC GROUPS; HEALTH SURVEYS; ILLNESS; MALES; Medicine and Medical Research; MILITARY MEDICINE; PE60002; PERSIAN GULF WAR; PREGNANCY; REPRODUCTION(PHYSIOLOGY); SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS; VETERANS(MILITARY PERSONNEL); WU30276

Veterans of the Persian Gulf War have complained of ill health, with diverse symptoms, since the war's end. We report here on postwar reproductive outcomes among spouses of male Gulf War veterans, compared with those among spouses of same-era male nondeployed veterans. From 1996, a probability-based sample of 8,915 deployed and nondeployed male military veterans aged 18-33 and married were mailed a reproductive health survey. A total of 2,716 Gulf War veterans and 2,169 nondeployed veterans returned the questionnaires, for a participation rate of 62.0 percent. Adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, military component, and pre-1991 reproductive outcomes, no statistically significant differences were found in the odds of reporting singleton or multiple births, ectopic pregnancies, or stillbirths. Male Gulf War veterans did report increased odds that their partners had exerienced a miscarriage in the first 2 years following the Gulf War.