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The prevalence of psychological disorders among those who are physically ill is an important and complex issue, typically with physical illness leading to psychological morbidity, directly or indirectly. This casual link may be via a biological pathway (hormonal, electrolyte, endocrine or drug) or psychological (e.g. functional restrictions caused by illness/medical disorders). Cooke etal (2007) investigated 10,108 individuals within each illness category studies, and found that the physical illness increased the chance of psychological morbidity suggesting a cumulative impact of physical morbidity on mental health. One clear and obvious implication in the personal injury field in the likelihood that these attending with orthopaedic injuries following an index trauma are likely to have psychological symptoms of some sort which require careful assessment (Koch 2005). Given this widely accepted and common sense conclusions, all orthopaedic reports within personal injury context should comment on or allude to the presence of psychological symptoms. Please contact the office on 01242 263715 or email enquiries@hughkochassociates.co.uk for further information on this article.

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