Abstract

Background: Gulf War (GW) yielded high rates of diseases and disorders to all who participated and those near these active warzones. Certain stressors play a direct role in the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. Objective: To determine the effects chemical (Ch) and non-chemical (NCh) stressors have on musculoskeletal disorders of those in and near active warzones and to inform primary care physicians about these adverse effects.
Methods: A volunteer, validated, self-reporting survey was given to those who accompanied patients of clinics available to all in the Basrah and Messan provinces of Iraq. In order to examine the severity Ch and NCh stressors have on musculoskeletal disorders three zones were partitioned according to their distance from war zone. Also participants answered questions related to environmental exposure and self-rated health assessment.
Results: We found a significant (P<0.001) difference between Ch and NCh exposure across the three zones. Specifically, 49% of those in zone 1 displayed one or more musculoskeletal disorders and those in zone 1 also selfreported having the highest prevalence of fair to poor health. There were also significant predictors to three Ch and two NCh exposures on musculoskeletal disorders. In addition, the likelihood the participants will have one or more musculoskeletal disorder doubles with each exposure which expands the description of.
Conclusion: The study showed that the Ch and NCh stressors has a significantly impact on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorder. In addition, this study found significant, previously unreported links between some of these Ch and NCh exposures and musculoskeletal disorders. This study reports the impact of Ch and NCh exposure on musculoskeletal disorders among non-military persons in active warzones.

Keywords: Chemical; Non-Chemical stressors; Arthritis; Lumbago; Muscle/Tendon disorders; Gulf war 1991; Iraq