Table 1.

Description and comparison of the 2 MAIS1 populations (whiplash and non-whiplash victims), at 1 year after road accident.

	Non-whiplash Victims, n = 207		Whiplash Victims, n:				Chi-squared Test¹
			Grade 1 = 62		Grade 2 = 109
	n	%	n	%	n	%	p
Sex							< 0.0001
Female	81	39.1	40	64.5	67	61.5
Male	126	60.9	22	35.5	42	38.5
Age, yrs							ns²
16–24	75	36.2	19	30.6	35	32.1
25–34	58	28.0	14	22.6	32	29.4
35–44	35	16.9	15	24.2	25	22.9
45–54	21	10.1	2	3.2	9	8.3
≥ 55	18	8.7	12	19.4	8	7.3
Family situation							< 0.05
Single	102	49.3	23	37.1	40	36.7
In couple	87	42.0	33	53.2	54	49.5
Separated, divorced, widowed	18	8.7	6	9.7	15	13.8
Educational level							NS
Less than school-leaving certificate	105	50.7	31	50.0	46	42.2
School-leaving certificate	46	22.2	15	24.2	25	22.9
More than school-leaving certificate	56	27.1	16	25.8	38	34.9
Socio-occupational category							NS
Farming, trade	13	6.3	4	6.5	1	0.9
Exec., sup. intellectual	21	10.1	9	14.5	14	12.8
Intermediate	20	9.7	4	6.5	11	10.1
Office worker	86	41.5	27	43.5	57	52.3
Manual	27	13.0	4	6.5	11	10.1
Student, housewife, other/no reply	40	19.3	14	22.6	15	13.8
Financial difficulties⁴ before accident							NS
No	155	74.9	47	75.8	74	67.9
Yes	52	25.1	15	24.2	35	32.1
Reason for travel							NS
Journey to work/school	70	33.8	20	32.3	44	40.4
Work purposes	11	5.3	5	8.1	2	1.8
Other	126	60.9	37	59.7	63	57.8
Type of road user							< 0.0001
4-wheel motor vehicle	90	43.5	51	82.3	98	89.9
Other	117	56.5	11	17.7	11	10.1
Place in vehicle							< 0.001
Driver	145	70.0	51	82.3	88	80.7	(NS⁵)
Front passenger	19	9.2	7	11.3	15	13.8
Rear seat passenger	11	5.3	2	3.2	2	1.8
Unknown passenger/NA	32	15.5	2	3.2	4	3.7
Antagonist							< 0.0001
None	59	28.5	3	4.8	13	11.9
Other (pedestrian, fixed obstacle.etc)	34	16.4	8	12.9	7	6.4
Motor vehicle	114	55.1	51	82.3	89	81.7
Impact direction⁶							< 0.0001
Frontal	42	20.3	14	22.6	24	22.0	< 0.0001⁵
Rear	12	5.8	16	25.8	41	37.6
Lateral right	15	7.2	6	9.7	14	12.8
Lateral left	11	5.3	14	22.6	15	13.8
Don’t know/NA	127	61.4	12	19.4	15	13.8
Friend or family member involved⁷							NS³
No	161	77.8	44	71.0	76	69.7
Yes	46	22.2	17	27.4	33	30.3
Intention to lodge complaint							NS
No	125	60.4	37	59.7	67	61.5	(NS⁵)
Yes	20	9.7	7	11.3	13	11.9
Don’t know	62	30.0	18	29.0	29	26.6
Subjective responsibility for accident							< 0.0001
No	58	28.0	39	62.9	57	52.3	< 0.01⁵
Yes	49	23.7	11	17.7	24	22.0
Don’t know	100	48.3	12	19.4	28	25.7
Psychological history							NS
No	144	69.6	36	58.1	76	69.7
Yes	63	30.4	26	41.9	33	30.3

↵1 The test compares the group of the whiplash victims (all together) with the non-whiplash group.
↵2 NS: nonsignificant.
↵3 Fisher’s exact test.
↵4 Combination of several variables: job loss, financial difficulties, failure over the 12 months before the accident.
↵5 Results calculated without the modality “Don’t know/not applicable”.
↵6 The impact direction was known only for the 4-wheel motor vehicle users; other road users are classified “not applicable”.
↵7 Some nonrespondent subjects: total does not equal 100%. NA: not applicable; MAIS1: maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale grade 1.