Cost of low back pain in Switzerland in 2005.
Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent health problem in Switzerland and a leading cause of reduced work performance and disability. This study estimated the total cost of LBP in Switzerland in 2005 from a societal perspective using a bottom-up prevalence-based cost-of-illness approach. The study considers more cost categories than are typically investigated and includes the costs associated with a multitude of LBP sufferers who are not under medical care. The findings are based on a questionnaire completed by a sample of 2,507 German-speaking respondents, of whom 1,253 suffered from LBP in the last 4 weeks; 346 of them were receiving medical treatment for their LBP. Direct costs of LBP were estimated at <euro>2.6 billion and direct medical costs at 6.1% of the total healthcare expenditure in Switzerland. Productivity losses were estimated at <euro>4.1 billion with the human capital approach and <euro>2.2 billion with the friction cost approach. Presenteeism was the single most prominent cost category. The total economic burden of LBP to Swiss society was between 1.6 and 2.3% of GDP.
Winterthur Institute of Health Economics WIG, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 958, St. Georgenstrasse 70, 8401, Winterthur, Switzerland. wiso@zhaw.ch
Simon
S
Wieser
Bruno
B
Horisberger
Sara
S
Schmidhauser
Claudia
C
Eisenring
Urs
U
Brügger
Andreas
A
Ruckstuhl
Jürg
J
Dietrich
Anne F
AF
Mannion
Achim
A
Elfering
Ozgür
O
Tamcan
Urs
U
Müller
D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000191:economics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult