The persistence of whiplash symptoms following a rear-end collision is associated, among other things, with having filed a compensation claim, a study in the UK shows.
Previous studies of whiplash were skewed because they included only individuals who sought medical treatment following a road traffic accident, Dr. Louis H. Pobereskin notes in his report, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
To avoid this bias, the researcher, based at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, contacted all 1147 people who were in rear-end collisions reported in the counties of Devon and Cornwall in a 1-year period. That included those involved in accidents classified as slight or damage-only.
A total of 503 agreed to participate in the survey. Only about one tenth of the respondents did not seek medical treatment.
Pobereskin reports that neck pain lasting more than 7 days was reported by 78 percent of the participants. Pain lasting a year occurring at least 1 day per week was reported by 52 percent of the 315 subjects who responded at the 1-year mark.
Analysis of the data showed that the most important predictors of still experiencing the effects of whiplash at 1 year were the severity of initial neck pain, and having filed a compensation claim -- prolonged symptoms were reported by 54 percent of those who had not filed a claim, versus 95 percent of those who had.
However, this doesn't necessarily mean that symptoms were exaggerated. Pobereskin points out that there was no improvement in symptoms once financial claims were settled. "It would appear that once a pain pattern has been established it does not resolve with claim settlement," he states.
link... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_26299.html
Previous studies of whiplash were skewed because they included only individuals who sought medical treatment following a road traffic accident, Dr. Louis H. Pobereskin notes in his report, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
To avoid this bias, the researcher, based at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, contacted all 1147 people who were in rear-end collisions reported in the counties of Devon and Cornwall in a 1-year period. That included those involved in accidents classified as slight or damage-only.
A total of 503 agreed to participate in the survey. Only about one tenth of the respondents did not seek medical treatment.
Pobereskin reports that neck pain lasting more than 7 days was reported by 78 percent of the participants. Pain lasting a year occurring at least 1 day per week was reported by 52 percent of the 315 subjects who responded at the 1-year mark.
Analysis of the data showed that the most important predictors of still experiencing the effects of whiplash at 1 year were the severity of initial neck pain, and having filed a compensation claim -- prolonged symptoms were reported by 54 percent of those who had not filed a claim, versus 95 percent of those who had.
However, this doesn't necessarily mean that symptoms were exaggerated. Pobereskin points out that there was no improvement in symptoms once financial claims were settled. "It would appear that once a pain pattern has been established it does not resolve with claim settlement," he states.
link... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_26299.html
