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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you’ve ever been in a rear-end collision, you may have been left with a painful condition called whiplash. Recovery can be slow, but a new study shows people who think they will recover from whiplash injuries often do while those who are less hopeful do not.
Researchers in Sweden and Canada conducted a study using questionnaires to find out whether people who had suffered whiplash injuries thought they would recover. One quarter of the respondents said they expected to make a full recovery. The rest were less sure and were more likely to have a high disability after six months.
Whiplash is a range of injuries caused by sudden distortion of the neck. Symptoms include neck and shoulder pain, blurred vision, headache, ringing in the ears, nausea, anxiety and depression. The collection of symptoms, called whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) makes predicting recovery difficult and costly.
The authors of the study, lead by Lena Holm at Karolinski Institute in Stockholm, say since expectations predict the progress of a patient’s recovery, early positive assessment is needed. They also believe negative thinking about getting better could explain why some patients who start out with mild symptoms go on to develop longer-term problems.
The researchers suggest educational and media campaigns aimed at making people feel more positive about getting over their whiplash would be beneficial. They also believe the effect of those kinds of interventions should be assessed.
SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, published online May 13, 2008
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