Table 3-2-Frequency of the Ten Most Common Symptoms Reported by Participants Enrolled in DOD's CCEP and VA's Registry


                                   CCEP participants           Registry participants
                                       (N=18,075)                     (N=52,216) 
                                                 Any of top       Any of top    
Reported symptom              Chief complaint   seven symptoms   three symptoms  
No symptoms                       10%               10%              12%      

Joint pain                        11                49               17a       

Fatigue                           10                47               20        

Headache                           7                39               18        

Memory loss                        4                34               14        

Sleep disturbance                  2                32                6        

Rash/dermatitis                    7                31               18        

Difficulty concentrating          <1                27               NA        

Depression                         1                23               NA        

Muscle pain                        1                21                a        



NA = Not available

a In the VA Registry, muscle and joint pain, combined, are 17 percent.

SOURCES: U.S. Department of Defense, Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program for Persian Gulf War Veterans: CCEP Report on 18,598 Participants (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Defense, 1996); and H.K. Kang, N.A. Dalager, and K.Y. Lee, "Health Surveillance of Persian Gulf War Veterans-A Review of the DVA Persian Gulf Registry Data," unpublished report, Department of Veterans Affairs, March 1996.