OBJECTIVES. Back pain afflicts approximately 31 million Americans, and
is the number one cause of activity limitation in young adults. Littl
e is known about the labor productivity costs associated with this chr
onic disease. Such information could provide useful input to employers
considering alternative health benefits plans for managing their empl
oyees' health care needs. The goals of this study were to generate emp
loyee-level as well as national estimates of the labor productivity lo
sses associated with chronic back ache. METHODS. Multivariate methods
were used to isolate the effects of chronic backache on employment sta
tus and disability days. These results were combined with information
on earnings to generate labor productivity cost estimates associated w
ith chronic backache. The study used data from the National Medical Ca
re Expenditure Survey (NMES), which provides information on health sta
tus, health care utilization and cost, work, disability, and sociodemo
graphic characteristics for a nationally representative sample of the
noninstitutionalized civilian population of the United States in 1987.
RESULTS. Average annual productivity losses per worker due to chronic
backache were $1,230 for male workers, measured in 1996 dollars, and
$773 per female worker. These figures translated into aggregate annual
productivity losses from chronic backache of approximately $28 billio
n in the United States. CONCLUSION. The labor productivity losses from
chronic backache differed by gender and other sociodemographic charac
teristics. The aggregate labor productivity losses associated with chr
onic backache were quite large and comparable to estimates of the dire
ct medical costs associated with treating this chronic illness.