Database

The report provides some evidence that fear of movement is a good predictor of continued disability with back pain. This remained true even after correction for actual impairment and disability. Evidence from: JM Fritz et al. Pain. October (2001) Vol.94 #1 p 7. There are standard questionnaires to assess fear of movement. Degree of pain, and volitional disability would probably work just as well. The Radar report is available to subscribers: 1#10 7

Pain in the neck or upper limbs and sensory symptoms were common in the non-manual workers overall (with 1 week period prevalences of 30% and 15%, respectively), and were associated with older age, smoking, headaches and tiredness or stress. Evidence from: KT Palmer et al. Occup. Med. Sep (2001) Vol.51(6) p 392. The report records that disabling symptoms were much less frequent, that keyboard work had no influence on neck or elbow pain, and moderate influence on shoulder and arm pain. Pain is not the same as injury. The Radar report is available to subscribers: 1#10 6

Nerve function is affected by carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). This paper suggests that testing nerve function before CTS is diagnosable will identify some of those who are on the path to injury. This would allow intervention if the cause was subject to a duty of care. The test will not be added to surveillance requirements until it is fully characterised. Evidence from: RA Werner et al. Muscle and Nerve. September (2001) Vol.24 #11 p 1462. The Radar report is available to subscribers: 1#10 5

Neck pain is commonplace and usually trivial. This paper reports the most common risk factors in people who are asked to think about neck pain. Being involved in a car accident often leads to people being asked to think about neck pain. Evidence from: PR Croft et al. Pain. September (2001) Vol.93 #3 p 317. The data provides a baseline against which the rate of whiplash claims can be estimated, assuming that causation is not needed before a claim is made but that there is some disability. This should be an extreme upper limit. For example, if there were 1 million RTAs per year the maximum number of non-cause claims would be 100,000. The Radar report is available to subscribers: 1#10 4

Neck pain immediately after any violent event stimulates  of precautionary responses in medics. It is likely that these responses have a high rate of harmful effect on those not seriously injured, while preventing permanent disability in those who are. This research suggests a selection method. Evidence from: IG Stiell et al. Journal of the American Medical Association. October (2001) Vol. 286 # 15 p 1841. The Radar report is available to subscribers: 1#10 3

This study provides results which are directly useful in liability exposure estimates. Evidence from: Keith T Palmer et al. Occupational exposure to noise and hearing difficulties in Great Britain. Contract Research Report 361/2001 HSE The Radar report is available to subscribers: 1#10 2