October 11, 2001
Whiplash Research Center established; volunteer subjects needed
UW researchers have been awarded a five-year grant of more than $2 million from the National Institutes of Health to study whiplash injuries from motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).
The researchers are Dr.’s Dennis Turk and James Robinson of the School of Medicine. Turk is John and Emma Bonica professor of anesthesiology and pain research in the Department of Anesthesiology. Robinson is an associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Both have extensive clinical and research experience in the treatment and prevention of chronic pain.
Over 5 million MVAs occur in the United States annually. In Seattle and King County alone, 50,000 MVAs occur each year, with over 35,000 of them causing injuries that require medical care. The most common injury from an MVA is a “whiplash” injury to the neck usually caused when a person’s vehicle is hit from the rear, and the person’s neck is forced backwards.
Although most people with whiplash injuries recover within a few weeks after their accident, 20 to 30 percent of them develop chronic neck pain that continues for a year or longer.
“The human suffering and medical costs associated with chronic neck pain following an MVA are enormous,” Turk says.
However, very little research has been done to identify who is at risk for developing chronic neck pain following a whiplash injury, or what kinds of treatments can prevent it. The research will study two primary questions:
- What factors predict whether a person with a whiplash injury will have an uneventful recovery or will develop chronic neck pain?
- Can a rehabilitative treatment program given two to three months after an MVA prevent people with whiplash injuries from developing chronic neck pain?
People who have sustained whiplash injuries in an MVA will be encouraged to contact the Whiplash Research Center at the UW as soon as possible after their accidents. Ideally, this contact will occur within the first two weeks after their accident, although people will be eligible for the study for up to three months after an MVA.
People who meet inclusion criteria for the study will be interviewed over the telephone by staff of the Whiplash Research Center. The center will maintain telephone contact with these individuals over the next several weeks.
Those who continue to report pain two months after their whiplash injury will be invited to come to the UW, where they will undergo a comprehensive evaluation and be entered into one of three different rehabilitative treatment programs.
For more information about the study, call the UW Whiplash Research Center at (206) 543-3387.
