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June 27, 2010

Work Disability after Whiplash.

Buitenhuis J, de Jong PJ, Jaspers JP, Groothoff JW. Work disability after whiplash: a prospective cohort study. Spine 2009 34(3):262-7.

A Dutch study done on the basis of 879 sent to people who had filed insurance claims following a car accident. Oftentimes, this scenario could spell trouble, as that there is amble opportunity for (deliberate or accidental) sampeling and statistical errors and other biases. This study appears to be without these flaws, however.
The purpose was to look at how neck pain after car accidents related to ability to work / disability over a period up to one year.
After 6 months, 51% remained symptomatic, and after 12 months 43.7% remained symptomatic. Of those 43.7%, about half (21.7%) still had persistent work disability (which in Holland most likely means total disability or off-work status).
The subjects were contacted at the 3, 6 and 12 months marks. Based on that information a statistically significant correlation was made between work disability and physical factors (including neck pain, stiffness, loss of motion, radiating pain in the arms, dizziness, headache intensity, and concentration problems.
Looking at the status at the 1 year mark, age and concentration problems proved to be good predictors for long term disabilty. No correlation was found between factors such as degree of manual labor (“blue/white collar” work), education level (as some insurance companies in some parts of the world sometimes like to imply).
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