• Robert Ferrari.
• Department of Medicine and Department of Rheumatic Diseases, University of Alberta, 13-103 Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P4, Canada, rferrari@shaw.ca.
• Clin. Rheumatol. 2015 May 1; 34 (5): 975-9.

AbstractThe objectives of this paper are to to measure levels of perceived injustice in whiplash victims and determine the relationship to recovery at 6-month post-injury. Consecutive acute whiplash patients completed the Injustice Experience Questionnaire, at presentation, and also 3- and 6-month post-injury. At each of these two follow-up points, participants were examined for recovery. Of an initial 134 participants, 130 participants were followed up at 3 months and 124 at 6 months. At the 3-month follow-up, 62 % (80/130) of participants reported recovery from their injuries. At 6 months, 80 % (99/124) reported recovery. The initial Injustice Experience Questionnaire score was low, with a mean score of 6.0 ± 1.0 (range 5-10) out of a maximum of 48. The mean score at 3-month follow-up had increased in the cohort to 7.4 ± 1.6 (range 5-11). At 6-month post-injury, the mean of the Injustice Experience Questionnaire score for the cohort who still reported lack of recovery (25/124 participants) was 15.0 ± 6.0 (range 5-31), while that for the recovered group remained low at 8.2 ± 3.9 (range 5-11). In the primary care setting, a significant proportion of whiplash patients who have not recovered by 3-month post-injury subsequently develop higher levels of perceived injustice by 6-month post-injury. The development of high levels of perceived injustice at 6-month post-injury appears to follow the development of chronic pain and a lack of recovery at 3 months and, at that point, becomes a risk factor for lack of recovery thereafter.

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