A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Aberdeen School of Medicine and Dentistry in Scotland has revealed that chronic pain may be worse after car accidents than after other kinds of traumatic accidents, including workplace injury, surgery, fracture, hospitalization and childbirth.
The researchers studied 2,000 individuals who provided information about musculoskeletal pain and associated stress over a period of four years. The participants were asked to indicate whether they experienced one of the following six traumatic accidents: traffic crash, workplace injury, surgery, fracture, hospitalization and childbirth. Of the 241 participants who reported chronic widespread pain, one-third of them indicated that they had experienced one of these six traumatic events during the four year study period.
After adjusting for age, sex, general practice and baseline pain status, the researchers found that those participants who had been involved in a car crash had an 84% increased risk of suffering from widespread chronic pain, but there was no link between chronic pain and hospitalization, surgery or childbirth.
The study’s coordinator, Gareth Jones, explained that he and his colleagues believe that “there are persons – defined by prior physical and psychological health – who in the event of a physically traumatic trigger are vulnerable to developing chronic widespread pain” and that “further research should focus on the unique aspects of an auto accident and the individual’s reaction to this particular trauma that causes the increased risk of chronic widespread pain onset.”
The study appeared in the March 21, 2011 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Arthritis Care & Research.
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, in 2009, there were 89,090 auto accidents in which injuries were sustained. If you have been injured in an auto accident, you may be entitled to compensation for the injuries that you have suffered, and may still be suffering, as a result of the accident. Contact the experienced Illinois auto accident attorneys at Steinberg, Goodman & Kalish to learn about a possible personal injury claim.
Steinberg Goodman & Kalish (www.sgklawyers.com) is dedicated to protecting victims and their families. We handle medical malpractice, product liability, personal injury, wrongful death, auto accidents, professional negligence, birth trauma, and railroad law matters. Contact us at (800) 784-0150 or (312) 782-1386.
