) % ( e c n e l a v e r P 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 GWS unsure-GWS non-GWS BMC Public Health 2004, 4:27 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/4/27 uscMuleon-staklealentdalb&ehcaovninoeucratilvdeistiosrsdueersdisorders M OtheNrFesrayvmtoigpuutseosmysstNemOSdisorders SRkeinspaairlclaehtrog&riyeinsdtiessotridnearlsdisorders eItnafbeoctliicondisorders Endocrine, nutritional andm Digestive, stom DeteriorationNiiCngGhaCgtrehedsneniwoisetveotraaa-pusltascrhiinune/slaaearl/rxtyhctdisegisyshosstnrtiedveemesrsssdw(inseooarttdienelgsrse/w"fheevAreeurtsco"l-aimssmifiuende)disease Allergiesotherthanskin Accidental injury Self-reported ill health category Cancer gPForigerivuearsleanm2ceonogf sGeWlf-rSe)ported ill health categories among GWV by GWS status (ordered by frequency of reported ill health cate- Prevalence of self-reported ill health categories among GWV by GWS status (ordered by frequency of reported ill health cate- gories among GWS) reporting of ill health is required and this will entail a more qualitative approach to the problem of Gulf War ill- ness. Continued quantitative documentation of the long- term health outcomes of Gulf War veterans remains essential. List of abbreviations used GWS Gulf War syndrome GWV Gulf War veterans MoD Ministry of Defense (UK) NGWS non-Gulf War syndrome NGWV non-Gulf War veterans (comparison group) RAF Royal Air Force RN Royal Navy Competing interests None declared. Authors' contributions RS performed the statistical analysis and drafted the man- uscript. NM and PD designed the study and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the many people who supported the conduct of this study: Representatives of the Armed Services, the British Legion, in particular Col Terry English, National Gulf Veterans and Families Associa- tion, Gulf Veterans Association, and, most importantly, the study members themselves for taking the time and effort to participate. We also acknowl- edge the skills and commitment of those who worked on the study, partic- ularly Graham Davies, Sam Lewis, Margo Pelerin, Susan Prior, Patrick Sampson, Tommy Clarke, Haydon Hughes, Juliet Jain, Darren Reed and Janet Sullivan. For supplying cohort data and for invaluable help with que- ries, we thank all members of the Gulf Veterans Illness Unit at the Ministry of Defence, in particular Nick Blatchley, John Graham, Philip Bolton, Linda Walpole and Chris Baker. We appreciate the work of Steve McManus and colleagues at the British Forces Post Office for providing valuable serving status and address information on a regular basis. Page 9 of 10 (page number not for citation purposes)