Chronic pain and quality of life among people with whiplash injury in Iceland

Abstract

The purpose was to examine the participants' pain severity, pain interference, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), needs, access and use of healthcare services, and the difference between those reporting whiplash injury ( >12 months) with and without chronic pain and those without whiplash injury but with chronic pain. This is a cross-sectional cohort study. The survey was sent by email to a sample of 12,400 individuals, aged 18-78 years. The response rate was 45% (n = 5,557), of whom 929 (16.7%) experienced whiplash injury after an accident. Participants with whiplash injury (59%) were more likely to report chronic pain (≥3 months) than those without whiplash injury (36.3%) (p > 0.001). The participants with whiplash injury and chronic pain (n = 543, 59%) were significantly more likely to have more severe pain, lower HRQoL, be disabled, and live outside the capital area compared to those with whiplash injury but without chronic pain (n = 386, 41%). Whiplash injury was more common among younger individuals and women. Participants with whiplash injury had higher pain severity, pain interference and lower HRQoL compared to those without whiplash injury. Participants with whiplash injury were more likely to have chronic pain and most of them had constant pain.

Keywords: Whiplash injury; cross-sectional study; health services need; pain; quality of life.