Pain
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Multicenter Study
Post-trauma ratings of pre-collision pain and psychological distress predict poor outcome following acute whiplash trauma: a 12-month follow-up study.
Patients with acute whiplash trauma were followed to examine if post-trauma ratings of pre-collision pain and psychological distress were associated with reduced work capability and neck pain at 12 months follow-up. The study included 740 consecutive patients (474 females, 266 males) referred from emergency departments or primary care after car accidents in four counties in Denmark. After the collision patients received a questionnaire on psychological distress, unspecified pain and socio-demographics and 12 months later a follow-up on work capability and neck pain was performed. ⋯ In conclusion unspecified as opposed to specified pain (neck pain) before the collision is associated with poor recovery and high accumulation of pre-collision psychological distress is associated with considerable neck pain at follow-up. However, no conclusions on causality can be drawn. Personal characteristics before the collision are important for recovery and attention to pre-collision characteristics may contribute to the prevention of poor recovery after acute whiplash trauma.