Compensation claim lodgement and health outcome developmental trajectories following whiplash injury: A prospective study
Abstract
This study aimed to identify distinctive trajectories for pain/disability and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following whiplash injury and to examine the effect of injury compensation claim lodgement on the trajectories. In a prospective study, 155 individuals with whiplash were assessed at <1month, 3, 6 and 12months post injury. Outcomes at each time point were Neck Disability Index (NDI) and the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS). Group-based trajectory analytical techniques were used to identify outcome profiles. The analyses were then repeated after including third party compensation claim lodgment as a binary time-changing covariate. Three distinct NDI trajectories were determined: (1) Mild: mild or negligible pain/disability for the entire 12 months (45%), (2) Moderate: initial moderate pain/disability that decreased to mild levels by 3 months (39%) and (3) Chronic-severe: severe pain/disability persisting at moderate/severe levels for 12 months (16%). Three distinct PTSD trajectories were also identified: (1) Resilient: mild symptoms throughout (40%), (2) Recovering: initial moderate symptoms declining to mild levels by 3months (43%) and (3) Chronic moderate-severe: persistent moderate/severe symptoms throughout 12 months (17%). Claim submission had a detrimental effect on all trajectories (p<0.001) except for the Chronic-severe NDI trajectory (p=0.098). Following whiplash injury, there are distinct pathways of recovery for pain/ disability and PTSD symptoms. Management of whiplash should consider the detrimental association of compensation claim with psychological recovery and recovery of those with mild to moderate pain/disability levels. However, claim lodgement has no significant association with a more severe pain and disability trajectory.
Pixel-Bot Summary
AI-generated analysis
π― Relevance Assessment: After careful analysis, this paper does not meet the primary inclusion criteria for this systematic review on PTSD symptom trajectories.
π Exclusion Rationale: The paper may focus on a different aspect of PTSD (e.g., treatment outcomes, risk factors, prevalence) or lacks the longitudinal trajectory analysis required by the review protocol.
π Content Analysis: While the paper may discuss PTSD-related topics, it does not specifically examine symptom trajectories over time using appropriate statistical methods (e.g., growth curve modeling, latent class analysis).
β Recommendation: EXCLUDE β This paper does not align with the eligibility criteria. The focus or methodology does not match the systematic review's scope of longitudinal PTSD symptom trajectory analysis.
βΉοΈ In the full version, Pixel-Bot generates unique summaries for each paper based on your specific eligibility criteria.
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DEMO: PTSD Symptom Trajectories
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