Prognostic Factors of Perceived Disability and Perceived Recovery After Whiplash: A Longitudinal, Prospective Study With One-year Follow-up.

OBJECTIVES: The understanding of the role that cognitive and emotional factors play in how an individual recovers from a whiplash injury is important. Hence, we sought to evaluate whether pain-related cognitions (self-efficacy beliefs, expectation of recovery, pain catastrophizing, optimism, and pessimism) and emotions (kinesiophobia) are longitudinally associated with the transition to chronic whiplash-associated disorders in terms of perceived disability and perceived recovery at 6 and 12 months. METHODS: One hundred sixty-one participants with acute or subacute whiplash-associated disorder were included. The predictors were: self-efficacy beliefs, expectation of recovery, pain catastrophizing, optimism, pessimism, pain intensity, and kinesiophobia. The 2 outcomes were the dichotomized scores of perceived disability and recovery expectations at 6 and 12 months. Stepwise regression with bootstrap resampling was performed to identify the predictors most strongly associated with the outcomes and the stability of such selection. RESULTS: Baseline perceived disability, pain catastrophizing, and expectation of recovery were the most likely to be statistically significant, with an overage frequency of 87.2%, 84.0%, and 84.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Individuals with higher expectations of recovery and lower levels of pain catastrophizing and perceived disability at baseline have higher perceived recovery and perceived disability at 6 and 12 months. These results have important clinical implications as both factors are modifiable through health education approaches.

Ocular surface characterization after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: A prospective study in a referral center.

Purpose: To characterize anatomical and functional changes in the ocular surface after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Methods: Three groups of patients were included in the study. Group 1: patients who had undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) (n = 26). Group 2: patients who developed chronic graft versus host disease (GvHD) after HSCT (n = 14). Group 3: healthy subjects (n = 20). A complete ophthalmological examination was undertaken in all subjects, including Schirmer's test, TBUT (break-up-time) test, Oxford scale, OSDI test, corneal tomography, and conjunctival CD8+ lymphocyte detection. Results: In Branch 1 (comparative analysis before and after HSCT in Group 1), statistically significant differences were found in the following variables: best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) OD (P = 0.08), OSDI test (P = 0.003), TBUT OU (OD P= 0, OS P= 0.0003), Oxford test OU (OD P= 0.01, OS P= 0.0049), and CD8+ lymphocytes OU (OD P= 0.003, OS P= 0.01). In Branch 2 (comparative analysis between Group 2 and 3), the variables with statistically significant differences (P < 0.001) in OU were: BCVA, OSDI test, Schirmer's test OU, TBUT test, Oxford test, and CD8+ lymphocytes. Finally, in Branch 3 (comparative analysis between Group 1 after HSCT and Group 2), statistically significant differences (P < 0.001) were found OU: in OSDI test, Schirmer's test, and Oxford test OU; and with P < 0.005 in TBUT test OU. Conclusion: In our study, statistically significant changes were observed in the OSDI test, TBUT test, Oxford Scale, and the detection of CD8+ lymphocytes in patients who underwent HSCT. Differences were more significant in those patients who had developed GvHD after HSCT compared to those without GvHD.