Anthrax Vaccination and Self-reported Symptoms, Functional Status, and Medical Conditions in the National Health Survey of Gulf War Era Veterans and Their Families

PURPOSE: To e\-aluarc the health status ofGulf War veterans who reported receipt of anthrax v;~cc~na-tion and a small group of Gulf War veterans for whom dcxllmentation of anthrax vaccinarion exists. METHODS: Among thc 11,441 Gulf War veterans who completed a health survey, 4601 reported receiving thc anthr~x vaccinc during the war; 2979 vererans reported not receiving it; 3861 were uncertain. Also, 352 of rhcse respondents were documcnred by thc Ileparrment of Defense as having rcceived anthrax vaccination. We compared the medical history of thssc groups clt ' veterans using mult~variate analysts. F~nally, we analyzed perception of expmrc and its relation to reporting bas. RESULTS: Thcre werc statistically significant differences in prcvalcrtcc for alr~~ost all outcnlnes studied ktwccn rhose who reported having receivcd anthrax vaccination and thosc wlro did nor so report. However, when rve compared the veterans for whot~l vaccination records exist to the group who self-reported that rhey had not received the vaccine, the significanr differences in prevalence for almosr all of thc outcomes disappeared. CONCLUSIONS: The cxtent of a reporting h~as should be carefully considered when one evaluates rhc healrh conscquenccs of anthrax vaccination based on self-rcporrcd data