Back
pain, back pain, everywhere there's back pain. Back pain is
second only to the common cold as the most frequent cause
of sick leave, accounting for approximately 40% of all work
absences. It's also the most common reason for filing workers'
compensation claims (about 25% of all claims filed in the
U.S.).
How bad is the situation? A study in the American Journal
of Public Health analyzed data from a national health
interview survey and found over 30,000 respondents who reported
daily back pain of one week or more in the 12 months prior
to the survey. From this data, the authors estimated that
more than 22 million people suffer from back pain that lasts
one week or more; these cases result in an estimated 149 million
lost workdays.
These estimates didn't even include workers who reported back
pain of less than one week, or who missed work for the entire
study period! If you've managed to escape back pain to this
point, it's probably just a matter of time until you're caught.
So make an appointment with your doctor of chiropractic, the
expert on preventing and managing back pain.
Reference:
Guo HR, Tanaka S, Halperin WE, et al. Back pain prevalence
in U.S. industry and estimates of lost workdays. American
Journal of Public Health, July 1999: Vol. 89, No. 7, pp1029-1035.
|