Do Acute Illness Perceptions Moderate the Association of Pre-Collision Welfare Benefits and Later Neck Pain or Disability Following Whiplash Trauma? A Prospective Multicentre Cohort Study

Tina B. W. Carstensen*, Sophie L. Ravn, Tonny E. Andersen, Solbjørg M. M. Sæther, Eva Ørnbøl, Kaare B. Wellnitz, Helge Kasch, Lisbeth Frostholm

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Objectives: Whiplash trauma is a worldwide significant public health issue, with post-collision chronic pain and physical and mental disability; the prevalence of whiplash trauma in the Japanese general population is estimated at 1.2% and in the Danish general population the whiplash condition has been reported to be 2.9%. Pre-collision welfare benefits and illness perceptions have been found to predict poor recovery after whiplash trauma. In this study, we examined whether illness perceptions measured shortly post-collision moderated the effect of welfare benefits five years before the collision on neck pain and neck-related disability one-year post-collision. Methods: Patients consulting emergency rooms or general practices with neck pain after acute whiplash trauma were invited to complete questionnaires during the week after the collision and at three and 12-months post-collision. Further, we obtained register data on the number of weeks on three types of welfare benefits (sick leave benefits, unemployment benefits, and social assistance benefits) for a five-year period before the collision. Multiple logistic regression was applied. Results: 740 patients were included. We did not find a significant moderating effect of illness perceptions on the association between pre-collision welfare benefits and chronic neck pain and related disability. However, there was a trend towards illness perceptions at baseline and at the three-month follow-up having a moderating effect on the relationship between long-term sick leave and neck pain one year after the whiplash collision. Conclusions: Regarding long-term sick leave, we might have overlooked a substantial moderating effect due to methodological matters and recommend a replication of this study on a larger sample, also focusing on other recovery outcomes.
Original languageEnglish
Article number7072
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume13
Issue number23
Number of pages16
ISSN2077-0383
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2024

Keywords

  • whiplash injuries
  • health
  • knowledge
  • attitudes
  • practice
  • social risk factors
  • social welfare
  • sick leave
  • unemployment
  • health status
  • registries
  • questionnaires
  • multivariate analysis

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