title: The health care and productivity costs of back and neck pain in a multi-employer sample of utility industry employees.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the cost of back and/or neck (B/N) pain among predominantly rural employees insured through an employee benefits trust.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eligible employees had 1 year or more of medical coverage and completed a survey subsequently linked to their claims data. B/N pain costs consisted of medical and pharmacy claims, over-the-counter expenses, and presenteeism and absenteeism costs valued according to median occupational earnings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1342 eligible employees, 52.7% currently had B/N pain of which 87.9% was chronic. The average annualized cost of B/N pain per employee was $1727; 56.1% was due to lost productivity. Covered medical care was utilized by 35.6% of employees, 55.7% used pharmacy care, and 71.6% purchased uncovered over-the-counter pain medication.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many covered employees did not use formal care. The effect of care choices on productivity costs requires closer scrutiny.
authors.affiliation: From the Program on Health, Work and Productivity (Drs Lerner, Rogers, and Chang, Ms Rodday, and Ms Greenhill), Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA; National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (Dr Villagra and Mr Antetomaso), Arlington, VA; and Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (Dr Patel and Dr Vo), Raritan, N.J.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Angie Mae
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rodday
authors.forename: Annabel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Greenhill
authors.forename: Victor G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Villagra
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Antetomaso
authors.forename: Aarti A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Lien
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vo
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D001416:Back Pain / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004526:Efficiency; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000191:economics; D011210:Power Plants; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D055553:Prescription Drugs