OBJECTIVES: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common chronic pain conditions, affecting 5-10% of people worldwide. Impact on employment and productivity for CLBP patients, completing one of the largest global (14 countries) CLBP surveys, is presented.

METHODS: Patients (≥18y) with a self-reported medical diagnosis of CLBP, recruited via online panels, completed the survey March-May 2019. Data were weighted by sample size, CLBP prevalence and pain severity.

RESULTS: The study included 8,990 CLBP patients (mean age 52y; 45% female). Using a 0 (no pain) to 10 (pain as bad as you can imagine) numeric rating scale, 41% reported severe (7-10), 49% moderate (4-6), and 10% mild (1-3) pain. For severe patients, 72% were the main income earner (mild:68%); 69% had ≥1 financial dependents (mild:49%); 58% were full/part-time employed (mild:47%); due to their CLBP, 9% were unemployed or retired early (mild:1%). For severe patients with an employer (n=1858) 35% had not disclosed their CLBP (mild:48%). Of the working population, 49% of severe patients had a job requiring physical activities most (22% vs mild:18%) or some of the time (27% vs mild:23%); 52% had sedentary jobs (mild:60%). 34% of severe patients had reduced their working hours (mild:16%); 38% were worried they would lose their job/business (mild:24%); 14% felt bullied at work (mild:8%) and 56% felt supported by their employer (mild:50%). Using the Stanford Presenteeism Scale, severe patients had a lower level of presenteeism, compared to mild. 34% of severe patients had a reduced income due to CLBP (mild:18%) and 67% missed ≥1 day of work per month on average (mild:30%), with 25% missing ≥5 days (mild:6%).

CONCLUSIONS: CLBP impacts patients’ working lives, with those in severe pain most likely to have reduced their working hours, suffered a loss in income and be worried for their jobs.