Burden of fibromyalgia and comparisons with osteoarthritis in the workforce.
OBJECTIVE
To calculate the fibromyalgia (FM) burden of illness (BOI) from the employer perspective and to compare annual prevalence, work output, absence, and health benefit costs of employees with FM versus osteoarthritis (OA).


METHODS
Retrospective regression model analysis comparing objective work output, total health benefit (health care, prescription drug, sick leave, disability, workers' compensation) costs, and absence days for FM, versus OA and NoFM cohorts, while controlling for differences in patient characteristics.


RESULTS
FM prevalence was 0.73%; OA 0.90%. Total health benefit costs for FM were $8452 versus $11,253 (P < 0.0001) for OA and $4013 (P < 0.0001) for NoFM, with BOI = $4439. Total absence days were 16.8 versus 19.8 (P < 0.0001) and 6.4 (P < 0.0001), respectively. FM had significantly lower annual work output than NoFM (19.5%, P = 0.003) but comparable with OA.


CONCLUSIONS
FM places a significant cost, absence, and productivity burden on employers.
Kleinman
Nathan
N
HCMS Group, Paso Robles, Calif., USA. nathan_kleinman@hcmsgroup.com
Harnett
James
J
Melkonian
Arthur
A
Lynch
Wendy
W
Kaplan-Machlis
Barbara
B
Silverman
Stuart L
SL
D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D017281:Cost of Illness; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D017132:Workplace