General Practitioner (GP) attendances for non-specific disease increase after life events. Whiplash injury has the effect of a life event in some people.

The aim of this study was to compare GP attendance rates in the year before and after whiplash injury to establish their rate and cause.

Ninety-eight subjects (62 women and 36 men) with whiplash injuries examined for medicolegal reports, with complete GP records for a year before and after injury.

The number of attendances and the reason for attendance. Consultations after the accident were subdivided into those for neck pain and for other reasons.

Subjects were reviewed more than one year after injury. All described neck pain 11% mild, 62% moderate and 27% severe. GP attendance rates before the accident were within the normal range but increased after (p=0.0001) because of neck pain symptoms. There was no association between attendance rates before and after injury but consultations for neck pain rose in proportion to severity of symptoms (p = 0.0015). Attendances unrelated to neck symptoms fell after injury (p = 0.002).

GP attendances for non-specific disorders increase after life events, but not after whiplash injury as patients focus on their neck symptoms.