What is the comparative effectiveness of current standard treatment, against an individually tailored behavioural programme delivered either on the Internet or face-to-face for people with acute whiplash associated disorder? A randomized controlled trial

55 patients with acute whiplash associated disorders were included in this trial to investigate the effectiveness of individually tailored behavioral programs in the management of these conditions. Patients were randomized to one of the three following groups: a 7-week individually tailored behavioral medicine program delivered over the internet or face-to-face, or a control group treated with standard therapy. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of the patient-specific programs on pain-related disability, pain intensity, self-efficacy in daily activities, catastrophizing, and fear of re-injury after a 12-month follow-up. Findings indicated that an individually tailored behavioral medicine program may be more effective than the current standard treatment of self-care in improving self-efficacy in daily activities and reducing pain-related disabilities, fear of movement or reinjury, and incidence of catastrophizing. Patients who received intervention via the internet had similar outcomes as the patients who received face-to-face therapy sessions.