# Listening to Gulf War Vets: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experience and Treatment of those with Chronic Multisymptom Illness

> **NIH VA I01** · PORTLAND VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · —

## Abstract

Anticipated Impacts on Veterans Healthcare: The first comprehensive qualitative study of the health
experiences of Gulf War era Veterans will yield significant insight into the features of effective care models and
treatments, as well as satisfaction with care. It will also create a rich, ongoing resource that can inform VA's
effort to improve customer service and care for Gulf War Veterans including a specific focus on those with
multisymptom illness and their caregivers. This research will identify better illness-specific health measures
and promising therapeutic approaches appropriate to VA settings. Finally, our goal is to activate Veterans to be
more engaged with the health system and VA research and policy processes, as well as to improve Gulf War
Veteran communication with VA care providers.
Project Background: While the proportion of Gulf War era Veterans seen in the VA is increasing rapidly, a
disproportionate number of these Veterans suffer from chronic multisymptom illnesses. Although great efforts
have been made to study the causes, we know little about the health experiences of Gulf War era Veterans
with or without multisymptom illnesses. Gulf War registry studies have used rigorous quantitative methods that
are well suited to broad and large-scale epidemiologic inquiry but are not well suited to characterize the
atypical symptoms, effects of co-occurring symptoms, particular challenges related to symptoms and symptom
combinations, and variations in symptom presentation among Gulf War Veterans with multisymptom illness.
Project Objectives: The overarching goal is to create a comprehensive repository of qualitative patient
interviews about experiences of Gulf War-related, chronic, multisymptom illness that can be used to motivate
system change; inform research, clinical practice, and VA policy; and provide an ongoing resource for
Veterans, caregivers, researchers, clinicians, and VA system leaders. The specific aims are: (1) Using
qualitative methods, amplify patient and caregiver voices in Gulf War-related research and clinical care to
improve understanding of experiences of illness and illuminate patient preferences which will contribute to the
design and conduct of patient-centered research and care models; (2) Using mixed methods, improve
understanding of the character of symptoms and functional problems specific to Gulf War era Veterans with
multisymptom illness, and provide this information as a resource to develop improved patient-reported
outcome measures; and (3) Using the results of these studies, develop products that identify promising
treatments, regimens, and care models that can be studied in randomized trials or implemented broadly
throughout the VA health system.
Project Methods: To achieve these objectives, we will use a proven methodology to structure the conduct of
video- and audio-taped interviews. The key features of this approach are (1) maximum variation sampling to
capture the widest possible range of views an...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9955049
- **Project number:** 5I01HX002148-02
- **Recipient organization:** PORTLAND VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** MARK HELFAND
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9955049

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9955049, Listening to Gulf War Vets: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experience and Treatment of those with Chronic Multisymptom Illness (5I01HX002148-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9955049. Licensed CC0.

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