In September 2024, VA researchers will be reaching out to Gulf War-era veterans for the fourth time since the 1990-1991 Gulf War. This is a part of a long-term health study called the Gulf War Era Cohort Study.  VA will send invitations to pre-selected veterans for this study.

"Now, more than 30 years since the 1990-1991 Gulf War, we want to learn about how the health of Gulf War-era veterans has changed over time and about chronic conditions such as Gulf War Illness, neurological issues, cancers and long COVID," said Dr. Erin K. Dursa. "This current survey will help VA better understand the health of veterans who did and did not deploy to the 1990-1991 Gulf War theatre of operations."

Dursa is director of Surveillance Military Environmental Exposures within VA's Health Outcomes Military Exposures and principal investigator on this study.

More than two dozen scientific articles come from earlier surveys

Like survey efforts in 1995, 2005 and 2012, this latest survey measures the current health and well-being of veterans who served in the military between 1990-1991. This study includes 15,000 pre-selected veterans who went to the Gulf War and 15,000 who were in the military at that time but did not go to the Gulf region.

If you were invited to participate in a past survey, researchers encourage you to respond in 2024 even if you did not participate before. Participants can choose to complete the survey on paper, online or over the phone. This study does not take volunteers. Only pre-selected veterans will be contacted.

More than two dozen scientific articles discussing research findings have come from the earlier surveys in the study. Researchers have studied multi-symptom illnesses, chronic diseases and environmental exposures linked to military service in this group of veterans.

For example, a 2021 study showed that Gulf War veterans' health declined earlier than the health of Gulf War-era veterans who did not serve in the Gulf War. Veterans who served during the 1990-1991 Gulf War reported higher rates of chronic fatigue syndrome, PTSD, gastrointestinal illness and skin conditions at a younger age compared to veterans who did not serve in the Gulf War.

These findings, along with ongoing and future research, will help VA understand the long-term health effects of deployment and improve VA health care.

A team from VA's Health Outcomes and Military Exposures Epidemiology Program is conducting this study. Get more information about this study, including information on research findings at https://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/gulf-war-longitudinal-study.asp.