Abstract
BackgroundLow Back Pain (LBP) is associated with an increase in disability-adjusted life years, and increased risk of disability retirement and greater absenteeism in Brazil. Hence, evidence on healthcare and lost productivity costs due to LBP is of utmost importance to inform decision-makers.MethodsCost-of-illness study with top-down approach, and societal perspective. We extracted data from National databases, considering the period 2012–2016. Outpatient expenses included clinical, surgical, diagnosis, orthosis/prosthetics, and complementary actions. Inpatient care expenses included hospital and professional services, intensive care unit, and companion stay. For productivity losses, duration of work absence and associated information (work-related and non-work-related; value of the sickness absence benefit; age; gender; and economic activity) were analyzed. Lost productivity costs were calculated multiplying the absence from work (days) by the daily-benefit.ResultsThe societal costs amounted to US$ 2.2 billion, and productivity losses represented 79% of the costs. Total healthcare expenses were estimated to US$ 460 million. We found more than 880,000 diagnostic images. Individuals with LBP were in total 59 million days absent from work between 2012–2016. The mean lost days absent from work per person, for each year investigated was, respectively, 88; 84; 83; 87; and 100. Men were more days absent from work than women. In addition, rural workers presented greater absence from work compared to other professional activities.ConclusionHealthcare expenses and lost productivity costs due to LBP were substantial, hence, there is a need for improvement of health services and policies to deal with this increasing burden of illness. We found an extensive use of diagnostic imaging, which is rather discouraged by clinical guidelines. We assume that men were experiencing high levels of back pain disability compared with women, as they presented greater absenteeism and higher lost productivity costs.
Highlights
Low Back Pain (LBP) is a prevalent, incapacitating and challenging condition [1, 2]
Healthcare expenses and lost productivity costs due to LBP were substantial, there is a need for improvement of health services and policies to deal with this increasing burden of illness
We found an extensive use of diagnostic imaging, which is rather discouraged by clinical guidelines
Summary
Low Back Pain (LBP) is a prevalent, incapacitating and challenging condition [1, 2]. Previous studies in several countries have reported that LBP is associated with an increase in disabilityadjusted life years (DALYs), which impacts the worker’s individual productive capacity resulting in productivity losses due to absenteeism [3,4,5,6,7]. Patients with LBP are high users of healthcare services, including rehabilitation services, and have high productivity losses due to this condition [10]. Low Back Pain (LBP) is associated with an increase in disability-adjusted life years, and increased risk of disability retirement and greater absenteeism in Brazil. Evidence on healthcare and lost productivity costs due to LBP is of utmost importance to inform decision-makers
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have