Background: Rheumatic disorders are one of the most prevalent human diseases which commonly become chronic and cause different types of disabilities. Chemical veterans may suffer from chronic difficulties caused by rheumatic disorders that can lead to decrease of their quality of life. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of rheumatic disorders among Iranian chemical warfare patient’s long-years after sulfur mustard (SM) exposure. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2013 to 2014 on 245 Iranian chemical veterans. In order to evaluate rheumatic disorders, a special questionnaire for COPCORD studies were filled by veterans and then general and special rheumatology examinations were applied under the supervision of internists and rheumatologists. Data from all questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS software and the results were reported as percentage or mean ±SD. Results: Osteoarthritis (69.9%) was the most common complications diagnosed in these patients. After that back pain (30.5%) and pre-arthritis (27.2) were the other popular complications among veterans. The percentage of frozen shoulder and moderate carpal tunnel syndrome was 13.2% and 11.5%, respectively. Tennis elbow and fibromyalgia (3.7%), rheumatoid arthritis (0.8%) and gouty arthritis with 0.4% were the lowest complications among these patients. Conclusion: Rheumatic associated complications in Iranian chemical injured veterans are higher than the mean of whole community. This data provided the possibility of calculating the disease’s burden and making efficient decisions in the sanitary and treatment systems.
Abolfazl Shakibaee,
Alireza Shahriary,
Noushin Bayat,
Soraya Shadmanfar,
Zeynab Ebrahimpour,
Eshagh Harsij,
Ahmad Farhadi,
Ahmad Reza Jamshidi,
Mahmood Salesi,
Seyed Reza Hosseini Zijoud,
Gholam Hossein Alishiri✉ View full articleIntroduction: Osteoarthritis is considered as the most common joint disease. Sulfur mustard (SM) is a toxic compound, which was applied as a chemical warfare agent by Iraq against Iran veterans during 1980-1988. Chemical veterans suffer from chronic implications caused by sulfur mustard that not only adversely affect their quality of life, but also restrict their working abilities and their participation in social activities. This study aims to consider the prevalence of osteoarthritis disorders among Iranian SM-exposed veterans. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 248 Iranian SM exposed patients were evaluated from 2013 to 2014. Veterans filled a special questionnaire for COPCORD studies and then general and specific rheumatology examinations were applied under the supervision of internists and rheumatologists. The obtained data from 245 filled questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS software and the results were reported as a percentage or mean ±SD. Results: Bone and joint pain (72%), knee joint pain (52.5%), Joint stiffness (49.2%), and shoulder joint pain (45.8%) were the most common type of complications in these patients. Osteoarthritis in at least one joint was the most common type of osteoarthritis in veterans. 69.5% of veterans had osteoarthritis in at least one joint. Knee osteoarthritis was the second most common type of osteoarthritis, which has been found in 58.4% of all veterans. The prevalence of neck osteoarthritis in all veterans was 23.9%. Conclusion: The total prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among Iranian veterans was significantly higher than the average of society.
