In an observational study of acute whiplash patients performed earlier, the authors identified risk factors which provided a risk assessment score. The risk assessment score was applied in a new 1-year longitudinal multicentre cohort study of acute whiplash patients with a main outcome parameter of a 1-year work disability. Significant relation was found between the risk assessment score and 1-year work disability. Stratification early after whiplash injury into seven risk strata was furthermore supported by other findings concerning psychological, social, work-related and psychophysical pain measures. The Risk Assesment Score may be considered a valuable tool for assessment of work disability in Initially, risk factors were identified in an obser-vational study and then applied and validated in this multicentre study. To further validate find-ings, other researchers should apply the risk assessment score and the seven strata stratifica-tion system on other populations for further external validation. (Author/publisher)
Abstract