Common Ailments Cost Employers $61.2B in Decreased Productivity, Absenteeism, Study Says

Headaches, back pain, arthritis and other muscle and joint pain cost the nation's employers $61.2 billion annually in lost workplace productivity and absenteeism, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which this week features pain-related research, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports (AP/Baltimore Sun, 11/12). Lead author Walter Stewart, who conducted the study while he was director of the AdvancePCS Center for Work and Health, and colleagues considered data from 28,902 working adults nationwide provided in the American Productivity Audit, a telephone survey on work and health (Rabin, Long Island Newsday, 11/12). Participants were interviewed between August 2001 and July 2002 about how pain affected their work performance, including their ability to concentrate and their work pace (Bloomberg/Houston Chronicle, 11/11). Researchers found that during a two-week period, 13% of workers experienced a decrease in productivity because of a common pain condition, and 76.6% of the loss in productivity was attributed to pain experienced on the job instead of pain causing work absences. On average, workers who experienced pain lost 4.6 hours a week in productive time (Stewart et al., JAMA, 11/12). The four types of pain considered in the survey account for 27% of $226.7 billion in total productivity losses caused each year by illness, according to another study that has not yet been published, the researchers said (Bloomberg/Houston Chronicle, 11/11). Headaches were the most common pain reported by participants, with 5.4% experiencing them, followed by back pain, which affected 3.2%, and arthritis and musculoskeletal pain, which each affected 2% of the survey population. "Employers have always been aware of this ... but had no incentive (to take action) because they had no idea what it was costing them," Stewart said (Long Island Newsday, 11/12).

The study is available online.

Broadcast Coverage
Several broadcast programs reported on the study:

• CBS' "Early Show": CBS medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay discusses the study (Senay, "Early Show," CBS, 11/12). The transcript and video of the segment in RealPlayer will be available online after the broadcast.
  
• NPR's "Day to Day": NPR's Madeleine Brand discusses the study with "Marketplace" correspondent Tess Vigeland (Brand, "Day to Day," NPR, 11/11). The full segment is available online in RealPlayer.
  
• MPR's "Marketplace": The segment includes comments from American Academy of Pain Management Director Dr. Barry Cole and Research America President Mary Woolley (Palmer, "Marketplace, MPR, 11/11). The full segment is available online in RealPlayer.