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Ireland’s €750 million bad back

Ireland is losing euro 750 million a year due to sick days caused by bad backs, arthritis, and MSDs.

A new European report on musculoskeletal disorders and the Irish labour market revealed some key findings:

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), including back pain, work- related upper-limb disorder and rheumatic diseases including arthritis, are the cause of 50 percent of sick days in Ireland costing the economy an estimated euro 750 million each year.

MSDs account for more than twice the number of working days lost from work than the number of days lost due to stress at a time when unemployment in Ireland is rising steeply.

Up to 49 per cent of people with MSDs were limited in the kind of work they were able to perform as a result of their condition.

Spending on illness/disability benefits for those of working age from all conditions including MSDs increased by 500 per cent between 1998 and 2007.

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