Effects of litigation on outcome after traumatic injury: A systematic review - 05/12/25
, Mélanie Cogné b, Alexis Schnitzler c, d, Philippe Azouvi e, fHightlights |
• | No study has shown that litigation has a negative impact on cognitive outcome. |
• | There are unconscious negative coping mechanisms of litigation. |
• | The relationship between outcome and litigation is not obvious. |
Abstract |
Background |
There is a widespread belief that litigation procedures may have a negative association with outcome.
Objectives |
This systematic review aims to compare outcomes between people going through compensation procedures following traumatic injury vs those who are not going through compensation procedures following traumatic injury. This is the first systematic review on the subject that includes all types of trauma.
Methods |
A PRISMA methodology was used to assess the association between compensation procedures and outcome following personal injury (excluding medical accidents), including articles published in English between 1st January 1980 and 1st September 2023, using the PubMed and Medline databases. We retrieved the data according to outcome measures and divided the data into 5 categories: overall disability and quality of life, cognitive, psychological, somatic, and social. The results were classified into 3 categories: those that showed a significant negative association between compensation procedures and outcome, those that showed a non-significant trend, and those that did not show a significant difference between compensation procedures and outcome. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs (QATSDD) scale.
Results |
From 467 articles initially screened, 27 met the inclusion criteria (total of 5,668 participants). Fifteen articles found a negative association between litigation and outcome, 8 found no significant effect, including 2 suggesting a non-significant trend. Four articles had different results according to the outcome measure.
Conclusion |
While we expected stronger results in favor of the negative association between compensation procedures and outcome, and despite limitations due to methodological heterogeneity and the lack of valid evidence, we nevertheless found a trend towards poorer outcome on psychological, somatic, disability, and quality of life measures. These results suggest that there is a clinical relevance to considering the unconscious and conscious mechanisms of potential secondary benefits in cases of litigation.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Litigation, Outcome, Trauma, Traumatic brain injury, Compensation seeking
Abbreviations : ADL, BICRO, CAPS, CIQ, CSC, DRS, GAD 7, GHQ, GOAT, GOS E, HADS, ICF, MMSE, mTBI, NART 2, NDI, NRS, PCL, PCRS, PDS
Plan
Vol 68 - N° 8
Article 102004- novembre 2025 Retour au numéro
Article précédent
- Low back pain and disability trajectories in primary care: a growth mixture modeling analysis
- Gijs P.G. Lemmers, René J.F. Melis, Sophie Pagen, Robin Hak, Miriam L. Haaksma, Gert P. Westert, Philip J. van der Wees, J.Bart Staal
Bienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
L’accès au texte intégral de cet article nécessite un abonnement.
Déjà abonné à cette revue ?