Citation

Harris IA, Young JM, Rae H, Jalaludin BB, Solomon MJ. Eur. J. Trauma Emerg. Surg. 2008; 34(5): 498-503.

Affiliation

Surgical Outcome Research Centre, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00068-007-7047-z

PMID

26815994

Abstract

Neck pain after physical trauma is common; but previous research regarding the role of psychological and physical predictors for neck pain is inconsistent. A retrospective survey of consecutive patients presenting to a metropolitan trauma centre with major accidental trauma was performed between 1 and 6 years post injury. Possible predictor variables (demographic, injury severity, and psychosocial factors) were determined from the hospital trauma registry and the questionnaire. The main outcome was a combined score of neck pain severity and functional limitation. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to develop a predictive model for neck pain. A multivariate analysis of 355 patients showed that neck pain was not significantly associated with measures of injury severity. Neck pain was significantly more likely to be severe in patients with a cervical spine fracture, with pre-existing chronic illnesses, those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time of follow up, those who had retained the services of a lawyer regarding the injury, and those with lower education levels. Psychosocial factors are important predictors of neck pain after major physical trauma. These findings do not support models for post-traumatic neck pain that are restricted to physical factors.

Language: en