• Debra Lerner, William H Rogers, Hong Chang, Angie Mae Rodday, Annabel Greenhill, Victor G Villagra, James R Antetomaso, Aarti A Patel, and Lien Vo.
• 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.
• J. Occup. Environ. Med. 2015 Jan 1; 57 (1): 32-43.

ObjectiveTo determine the cost of back and/or neck (B/N) pain among predominantly rural employees insured through an employee benefits trust.MethodsEligible 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.ResultsOf 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.ConclusionsMany covered employees did not use formal care. The effect of care choices on productivity costs requires closer scrutiny.

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