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Longitudinal Evaluation of Lung Function in Gulf War I Veterans Exposed to Depleted Uranium
Danielle R Glick1, Clayton H Brown, Lan Li
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine (Dr Glick, Dr Weiler-Lisowski, Dr Hines); Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Dr Glick, Dr Weiler-Lisowski, Dr Gaitens, Dr McDiarmid, Dr Hines); Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine (Dr Gaitens, Dr McDiarmid, Dr Hines); and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Dr Brown, Ms Li), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Objective:
Gulf War I (GWI) Veterans exposed to depleted uranium (DU) have undergone biennial surveillance to assess for DU-related health effects. No DU-specific respiratory effects have been observed cross-sectionally, but longitudinal lung function decline has not been assessed.
Methods:
A dynamic cohort of 71 Veterans underwent spirometry testing between 1999 and 2019. Longitudinal rates of decline of spirometry values were compared among Veterans with high versus low uranium levels using a linear mixed model.
Results:
There was no significant difference in rate of decline of spirometry values between Veterans with high versus low uranium levels. The overall rate of decline was similar to that of the general population.
Conclusions:
In 20 years of follow-up, there does not appear to be an accelerated rate of decline of lung function among veterans exposed to depleted uranium.
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