Compensation prolongs whiplash pain
Take Home Messages:
Reducing compensation and encouraging early treatment via legislative change has led to improvements in whiplash recovery in NSW.
Why the research matters:
Motor vehicle crash compulsory third party insurance legislation was changed in New South Wales Australia 1999 to remove financial compensation for “pain and suffering” due to whiplash injury.
Using insurance company data, three groups of people with whiplash were identified. One group consisted of those who acquired a whiplash injury prior to the legislative change (before 1999), while the other two groups consisted of people who were injured after 1999.
Clinical guidelines for the treatment of whiplash were also created as part of the change, as well as allowing earlier access to treatment and compensation. This study assesses whether these changes had a positive or negative impact on recovery from whiplash.
What the research involved:
Participants were contacted by phone two years after sustaining their whiplash injury, to determine their current state of health.
Summary of research findings:
- Those that were injured in 1999 had greater functional impairment due to their injury than those injured in 2001 or 2003;
- Those that were injured in 1999 on average had a higher levels of pain 2 years after injury than those injured in 2001 or 2003;
- Those that were injured in 1999 (prior to the legislative change) were more bothered by complications of their whiplash 2 years after injury than those injured in 2001 and 2003 (after the legislative change);
- Those that were injured in 1999 on average had cut down their normal activities for 2 days due to their injury in the 4 weeks prior to the phone interview, while those injured in 2001 or 2003 had not cut down their activities at all; and
- In the four weeks prior to the telephone interview, no time had been taken off work due to the injury by participants in any group.
Original research:
Legislative change is associated with improved health status in people with whiplash.
Cameron ID, Rebbeck T, Sindhusake D, Rubin G, Feyer AM, Walsh J, Schofield WN.
Spine. 2008 Feb 1;33(3):250-4.