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Back ‘Stats’
Back pain affects most of us at some stage
of our lives.
About 80% of us will experience back pain
lasting more than a day.
Almost half of British adults will report low
back pain lasting at least 24 hours at some
time during the year.
Almost 10 million women have back pain each
year.
Studies show between 40%-60% of pregnant
women get back pain.
Men’s back pain is often the result of injury,
while women’s is part of their everyday lives.
People who experience back pain as a child
or teenager are more likely to experience
back pain as an adult.
Back pain affects Britain’s
Economy.
Back pain is the nation’s leading cause of dis-
ability, with 1.1 million people disabled by it.
On any one day, about 1% of the working-age
population are on sickness absence due to a
back problem.
Nearly 5 million working days were lost through
bad backs in 2003/4. On average, each sufferer
took about 20 days off in that period.
HSE (Health and Safety Executive) estimates
show work-related musculoskeletal disorders
cost employers between £590 -£624 million per
year.
One in eight (13%) of unemployed people say
back pain is the reason they are not working.
At any one time, 430,000 people in the UK are
receiving Social Security payments primarily for
back pain.
The total cost of back pain corresponds to be-
tween 1% and 2% of Britain’s Gross National
Product (GNP).
What Back pain costs The NHS.
Back pain costs the NHS and community care
services more than £1 billion each year. This
includes:
£141 million each year for GP consultations (At
least 5 million adults consult their GPs annually
about back pain).
£151 million for NHS physiotherapy.
£512 million for hospital care (in-patient,
out-patient and emergency).
A further £565 million are spent on private ser-
vices.
Ten percent of those complaining of back pain
visited a complementary practitioner, such as an
osteopath, chiropractor or acupuncturist.
Nurses are particularly prone to back pain.
80,000 nurses injure their backs each year and
3,600 are invalided out as a result.
What can lead to back pain in the
workplace?
Sitting at a workstation for a long period of time
if the workstation is not correctly arranged or
adjusted to suit the person, e.g. working with
computers;
Driving long distances or driving over rough
ground (people who drive over 25,000 miles a
year averaged just over 22 days a year off work
with bad backs, compared with just over 3 days
a year for low-mileage drivers);
Repetitive tasks, such as manual packing of
goods;
Awkward manual handling such as delivery
work;
Heavy manual labour.
BACK FACTS courtesy of:
BackCare: Telephone 0845 130 2704. Website www.backpain.org. email info@backcare.org.uk
The Heath & Safety Executive (HSE): Helpline 0845 345 0055. Website www.hse.gov.uk
Many useful leaflets, guidelines and books can be obtained from both organisations.
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