BackPainPrevalence inUS Industry and Estimates ofLostWorkdays

Backpain isthemostcommonreason forthefiling ofworkers' compensation claims intheUnited States. Itaccounts for about onefourth ofallclaims12 andonethird oftotal compensation costs.3 Backpain, which results inabout 40%ofabsences from work, issecond toonly thecommoncold as themostfrequent cause forsickleave.3 In 1990, estimates ofthecost ofbackpain inthe United States ranged from$50billion to $100billion.4