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A study on whiplash injury treatment finds that pain catastrophizing reported at admission predicts subsequent pain severity, depressive symptoms, and post-traumatic stress symptoms at 4 and 7 weeks.
The following is a summary of “Temporal Relations Between Pain Catastrophizing and Adverse Health and Mental Health Outcomes After Whiplash Injury,” published in the January 2024 issue of Pain by Paré et al.
This study aims to investigate the temporal connections between pain catastrophizing, pain severity, depressive symptoms, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in individuals undergoing treatment for whiplash injury. Pain catastrophizing is recognized as a predictor of pain severity and concurrent mental health issues post-whiplash injury, but understanding its role as an antecedent or causal factor is limited.
The study included 388 participants enrolled in a comprehensive treatment program for whiplash injury. Self-reported assessments of pain catastrophizing, pain severity, depressive symptoms, and PTSS were collected at admission, midway through treatment (4 weeks), and upon treatment completion (7 weeks). A cross-lagged panel analysis was employed to explore the sequential relationships among these variables across the three time points.
After modifications for model fit, the analysis demonstrated acceptable outcomes. Pain catastrophizing reported at admission predicted the other variables at 4 weeks, and catastrophizing at 4 weeks also predicted the other variables at 7 weeks. Moreover, bidirectional connections were noted between variables assessed at week 4 and week 7.
The findings suggest that pain catastrophizing may play a substantial role in the initiation and persistence of health and mental health conditions following whiplash injury. This underscores the need for therapeutic approaches targeting pain catastrophizing in intervention programs for whiplash injury to potentially improve treatment outcomes.
