Because they separately examined the association of demographic characteristics with the GWI phenotypes, the researchers also found that women, regardless of deployment status, had higher odds of meeting the GWI phenotypes compared with men.
Their findings will be used, the researchers say, “to understand how genetic variation is associated with the GWI phenotypes and to identify potential pathophysiologic underpinnings of GWI, pleiotropy with other traits, and gene by environment interactions.” With information from this large dataset of GW-era veterans, they will have a “powerful tool” for in-depth study of exposures and underlying genetic susceptibility to GWI—studies that could not be performed, they say, without the full description of the GWI phenotypes they have documented.
The study had several strengths, the researchers say. For example, unlike previous studies, this one had a sample size large enough to allow more representation of subpopulations, including age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, and military service. The researchers also collected data from surveys, especially data on veterans’ self-reported symptoms and other information “incompletely and infrequently documented in medical records.”
Finally, the data for the study were collected more than 27 years after the GW. It, therefore, gives an “updated, detailed description” of symptoms and conditions affecting GW-era veterans, decades after their return from service.