BACKGROUND: Forces deployed to the first Gulf War report more ill health than 
veterans who did not serve there. Many studies of post-Gulf morbidity are based 
on relatively small sample sizes and selection bias is often a concern. In a 
setting where selection bias relating to the ill health of veterans may be 
reduced, we: i) examined self-reported adult ill health in a large sample of 
male UK Gulf War veterans and a demographically similar non-deployed comparison 
group; and ii) explored self-reported ill health among veterans who believed 
that they had Gulf War syndrome.
METHODS: This study uses data from a retrospective cohort study of reproduction 
and child health in which a validated postal questionnaire was sent to all UK 
Gulf War veterans (GWV) and a comparison cohort of Armed Service personnel who 
were not deployed to the Gulf (NGWV). The cohort for analysis comprises 42,818 
males who responded to the questionnaire.
RESULTS: We confirmed that GWV report higher rates of general ill health. GWV 
were significantly more likely to have reported at least one new medical symptom 
or disease since 1990 than NGWV (61% versus 37%, OR 2.7, 95% CI 2.5-2.8). They 
were also more likely to report higher numbers of symptoms. The strongest 
associations were for mood swings (OR 20.9, 95%CI 16.2-27.0), memory loss/lack 
of concentration (OR 19.6, 95% CI 15.5-24.8), night sweats (OR 9.9, 95% CI 
6.5-15.2), general fatigue (OR 9.6, 95% CI 8.3-11.1) and sexual dysfunction (OR 
4.6, 95%CI 3.2-6.6). 6% of GWV believed they had Gulf War syndrome (GWS), and 
this was associated with the highest symptom reporting.
CONCLUSIONS: Increased levels of reported ill health among GWV were confirmed. 
This study was the first to use a questionnaire which did not focus specifically 
on the veterans' symptoms themselves. Nevertheless, the results are consistent 
with those of other studies of post-Gulf war illness and thus strengthen overall 
findings in this area of research. Further examination of the mechanisms 
underlying the reporting of ill health is required.