OBJECTIVES: To determine the burden of disease in patients with low back pain (LBP) by measuring the productivity loss cost and quality of life according to the severity of pain.

METHODS: A randomized controlled multicenter pilot study enrolled LBP patients accompanied by pelvic deviation. Inclusion criteria were age 19-65 years with a Numeral Rating Scale (NRS) of ≥ 5, where higher scores denote severe pain. We measured the health related quality of life using a validated Korean version of the 5-level-EuroQol-5-dimensional-questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) and productivity loss using a validated Korean version of iMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ) at baseline. Mean and standard deviation (SD) for EQ-5D-5L, costs of absenteeism, presenteeism, and unpaid work were calculated. Subgroup analysis was performed in a moderate group (4≤NRS7) and a severe group (NRS≥7) using a student’s t-test for comparison.

RESULTS: Among 30 identified LBP patients, 50% were classified in both the moderate and severe groups. Most of the patients were female (83%) and the mean age was 52.9 (SD 10.3) years. The mean EQ-5D-5L score for the moderate group was 0.75 (SD 0.06) and for the severe group was 0.65 (SD 0.16), demonstrating a significant difference of 0.10 points (p<0.05) between the groups. The average productivity loss cost associated with presenteeism, and unpaid work was $116 and $161, respectively, while absenteeism was not observed. Total productivity loss costs in response to LBP were ＄237 for the moderate group and ＄318 for the severe group, although the differences between the groups were not statistically significant (p=0.67).

CONCLUSIONS: We found differences in quality of life and productivity loss costs according to severity in LBP patients. These estimates could be used in quantifying the benefit of improving the quality of life and productivity loss when effectively managing LBP patients by severity level.