title: Are symptoms of late whiplash specific? A comparison of SCL-90-R symptom profiles of patients with late whiplash and patients with chronic pain due to other types of trauma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Focusing on symptoms referred to as specific for late whiplash may contribute to misconceptions in assessment, treatment, and settlements. We compared Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) symptom profiles of patients with late whiplash and patients with chronic pain due to other types of trauma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared 156 late whiplash patients (WP group) with 54 chronic pain patients who had suffered different bodily trauma (non-WP group) with regard to the following aspects of the SCL-90-R: the Positive Symptom Total (PST); the nine SCL-90-R dimensions and additional global indices, i.e., Global Severity Index (GSI) and Positive Symptom Distress (PSD); and complaints referred to as specific for late whiplash syndrome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean adjusted T score for PST was in the normal range for the WP group (T = 56.1, 95% CI 54.1-58.1) and in the pathological range for the non-WP group (T = 61.1, 95% CI 57.3-64.9). Both the WP and non-WP groups showed mean T scores in the pathological range for the dimensions "Somatization," "Obsessive-Compulsive," and PSD. Only the non-WP group had an average score in the pathological range for the dimensions "Depression," "Anxiety," and "Phobic Anxiety" and for the global indices GSI and PST. Multivariable regression controlling for gender and education level was used to identify complaints "specific for late whiplash" that were significantly associated with being in the WP group rather than the non-WP group: greater headache (OR 1.54; 95% CI 1.16, 2.03; p = 0.003) and lower emotional lability (OR 0.96; 95% CI 0.93, 0.98; p = 0.003) were the only significant variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late whiplash is not a chronic pain condition characterized by specific symptoms, other than greater headache.
authors.affiliation: Pain Unit, Schulthess Klinik, Lengghalde 2, CH-8008 Zürich, Switzerland. bogdan.radanov@kws.ch
authors.forename: Bogdan P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Radanov
authors.forename: Anne F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Mannion
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ballinari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014911:Whiplash Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult