Citation

Ozegovic D, Carroll LJ, Cassidy JD. J. Rehabil. Med. 2010; 42(1): 66-73.

Affiliation

Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada. ozegovic@ualberta.ca

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Foundation for Rehabilitation Information)

DOI

10.2340/16501977-0466

PMID

20111847

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Positive expectations predict better outcomes for a variety of health conditions including recovery from whiplash-associated disorders, but we know little about which individuals have negative expectations, and therefore may be at risk for poor whiplash-associated disorders recovery. METHODS: We assessed expectations for global recovery in a population-based cohort of 6015 individuals with traffic-related whiplash-associated disorders. We used multinomial logistic regression analysis to model factors associated with expecting to recover slowly, or not recover at all, as opposed to expecting to recover quickly. RESULTS: Depressive symptomatology, lower education, lower income, male gender, younger age, being a passenger in the vehicle, history of neck pain, and greater initial pain (greater percentage of body in pain, greater intensity of neck pain and presence of low back and/or headache pain) were associated with poor expectations for recovery. CONCLUSION: A number of demographic, socioeconomic and injury-related factors were associated with expectations for recovery in whiplash-associated disorders. Two of the strongest associated factors were depressive symptomatology and initial neck pain intensity. These results support using a biopsychosocial approach to evaluate expectancies and their influence on important health outcomes.

Language: en