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Table 6 The association between deployment to the Gulf War and abdominal pain amongst veterans

From: Pain in veterans of the Gulf War of 1991: a systematic review

Study

Period of prevalence estimate

Prevalence GWV

Prevalence NGV

OR (95% CI)

% weight in meta-analysis

Sostek 1996

Current symptoms

70%

9%

23.5 (7.27–76.1)

6.5

Kang 2000

Time period unclear

23%

12%

2.19 (2.03–2.36)

32.2

Knoke 2000

Current symptoms

3.4%

1.3%

2.74 (1.31–5.73)

12.6

Steele 2000

Symptoms past 12 months

15%

4%

4.33 (2.57–7.28)

18.2

Cherry 2001

Symptoms past month

Mean score approx 4.0

Mean score approx 2.5

  

Gray 2002

Symptoms past 12 months

13.4%

DEV 5.1%

NDV 4.4%

2.87 (2.45–3.36)

30.5

Summary OR (95% CI)

3.23 (2.31–4.51)

Heterogeneity χ 2 = 29.8, df = 4, P < 0.001

  1. GWV – Gulf War veterans; NGV – non-Gulf veterans.
  2. OR – odds ratio. Individual study ORs based on published prevalence data and not adjusted for confounders.
  3. Summary OR – weighted average of all individual study ORs, derived from "metan" command in Stata version 9.0 using a random effect model and DerSimonian and Laird method.
  4. Gray 2002: DEV – deployed elsewhere veterans, NDV – non-deployed veterans; GWV vs DEV compared in meta-analysis.