Stretch, R.H. et al. Physical Health Symptomatology of Gulf War-Era Service Personnel from the States of Pennsylvania and Hawaii. Military Medicine 1995; 160: 131-136.

Congressionally-mandated questionnaire survey of veterans (active, reserve, Guard) in Pennsylvania and Hawaii to assess the health and adjustment of GW veterans. Questionnaires were mailed to, and distributed through, units. Response rate was 31%. Of the 4,334 respondents, 1524 deployed to the PG, 215 elsewhere, and 2,512 did not deploy. Symptoms within the previous month were recorded. Deployed veterans reported significantly more physical health symptoms than non-deployed veterans. The difference cannot be explained by reasons other than deployment alone. Deployers reported more physician visits during the previous two weeks than non-deployers. Limitations of the study are the low response rate, the unit-based method of distributing the questionnaires, and the absence of objective measures of health status.