Dr Michele Sterling

New UQ research will examine the psychological and physical aspects of whiplash to help chronic sufferers.

Lecturer in physiotherapy, Dr Michele Sterling, has received a $50,000 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award to examine the traumatic personal and health costs of whiplash.
Dr Sterling, a researcher in the area since 1997, had earlier identified whiplash as a multifaceted condition, involving both physiological and psychological factors. Her new project builds on this, and represents the first study of the interaction.

“Over 5000 people are affected by whiplash from motor vehicle accidents in Queensland each year. From 1994 to 2004, whiplash injuries had a cost exceeding $1 billion,” Dr Sterling said.

“While most people respond well to current treatments, around 20 to 25 percent develop chronic symptoms and experience pain and disability for longer than three months. This group will be the focus. Our aim is to identify people at risk of not recovering well, and to find better treatments.”

Eighty volunteers are needed for the project and required to wear a “Life Shirt”, a specially-designed shirt that collects data on heart and respiratory rates, as well as leg and torso movement, for two days.

Volunteers will also need to record in an electronic diary information about their pain and feelings.

The research project will take an intradisciplinary approach through collaboration with psychologists from UQ’s Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine and the School of Psychology.

• Dr Michele Sterling www.uq.edu.au/uqresearchers/researcher/sterlingmm.html

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