Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research
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Comparative Study
Laypersons' expectation of the sequelae of whiplash injury: a cross-cultural comparative study between Canada and Greece.
The objective of the present study is to compare the frequency and nature of expected 'whiplash' symptoms in Greece [a country where the chronic whiplash syndrome is rare or unknown] with that in Canada. ⋯ In Greece, despite the documented occurrence of neck sprain symptoms in individuals following motor vehicle collisions, there is a very low rate of expectation of any sequelae from this injury. What current or previous aspects of society that underlie this remain uncertain. This lack of expectation of chronicity in Greece may, in part, determine the low prevalence of the chronic whiplash syndrome there. Further studies of symptom expectation as an etiologic factor in the chronic whiplash syndrome are needed.