Psychological determinants of quality of life in patients with whiplash associated disorders-a prospective study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether psychological factors and personality traits influence recovery in terms of quality of life in patients with subacute whiplash associated disorders (WAD).


METHODS
The data was obtained from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on 47 patients. The patients completed measures of pain intensity, affective dimension of pain, pain location, psychological stress, heightened somatic awareness, depression, catastrophizing, self-efficacy, fear of movement (re)injury, and physical disability. After three months of physiotherapy interventions, the outcome of quality of life was measured with the Short Form Health survey (SF-12). All variables were entered in a multiple regression analysis, after controlling for age and sex.


RESULTS
Forty patients (85%) completed the trial. The self-efficacy scale (SES) was the only variable in the model that significantly explained the fraction of the SF12-score. The correlation between the SES and SF-12 was B = 0.64 (p < 0.01), and the adjusted R(2) was 0.40 (p < 0.05), which means that 40% of the variation in the SF12 outcomes was explained by the SES.


CONCLUSIONS
In order to improve health-related quality of life in patients with WAD, the present study stresses the importance of targeting self-efficacy. A special effort should be made to enhance these beliefs in the rehabilitation process.
Kall
Lina Bunketorp
LB
Department of Occupational Therapy, Audiology, and Physiotherapy, The Sahlgrenska Academy at Goteborg University, and Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Goteborg, Sweden. lina.bunketorp@gu.se
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010551:Personality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014911:Whiplash Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation