CONCLUSIONS There was a consistent positive association among studies that have examined the association between MVC-related neck injury and future NP .
OBJECTIVE To summarize the literature that has examined the association between a motor vehicle collision ( MVC ) related neck injury and future neck pain ( NP )  in comparison with the population that has not been exposed to neck injury from an MVC .
LITERATURE SURVEY Neck injury result ing from an MVC is associated with a high rate of chronicity .
Prognosis studies indicate 50 % of injured people continue to experience NP a year after the collision .
This is difficult to interpret due to the high prevalence of NP in the general population .
Development in pain and neurologic complaints after whiplash
Objective : To prospect ively examine the course of pain and other neurologic complaints in patients with acute whiplash injury and in controls with acute ankle injury . Methods : Patients with acute whiplash ( n = 141 ) and ankle-injured controls ( n = 40 ) were consecutively sample d , and underwent interview and examination after 1 week and 1 , 3 , 6 , and 12 months . Outcome measures were pain intensity , pain frequency , and associated symptoms . Results : Initial overall pain intensity above lower extremities ( pain in neck , head , shoulder-arm , and low back ) was similar in patients with whiplash ( median Visual Analogue Scale [VAS]0–100 of 20 [ 25th and 75th percentile , 4 , 39 ] ) and ankle-injured controls ( median VAS0–100 of 15 [ 5 , 34 ] ) . Whiplash-injured patients reported median overall VAS0–100 pain intensity above lower extremities of 23 ( 12 , 40 ) after 11 days and 14 ( 12 , 40 ) after 1 year . Controls reported pain intensity of 0 ( 0 , 4 ) after 12 days and 0 ( 0 , 9 ) after 1 year . Reported overall pain frequency above lower extremities was 96 % after 11 days and 74 % after 1 year in whiplash-injured patients and 33 % after 12 days and 47 % after 1 year in controls . Associated neurologic symptoms were two to three times more common after whiplash injury . Correlation was found between pain intensity and associated symptoms in whiplash-injured patients but not controls . Conclusion : Pain occurs with high frequency but low intensity after whiplash and ankle injury . Associated neurologic symptoms were not correlated to pain in ankle-injured controls , but were correlated to pain in patients with whiplash injury . Persistent symptoms in whiplash-injured patients may be caused by both specific neck injury – related factors and nonspecific post-traumatic reactions . Disability was only encountered in the whiplash group
CONCLUSIONS There was a consistent positive association among studies that have examined the association between MVC-related neck injury and future NP .
OBJECTIVE To summarize the literature that has examined the association between a motor vehicle collision ( MVC ) related neck injury and future neck pain ( NP )  in comparison with the population that has not been exposed to neck injury from an MVC .
LITERATURE SURVEY Neck injury result ing from an MVC is associated with a high rate of chronicity .
Prognosis studies indicate 50 % of injured people continue to experience NP a year after the collision .
This is difficult to interpret due to the high prevalence of NP in the general population .