Economic burden of illness for employees with painful conditions.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare the medical services utilization and average annual direct (ie, medical and medication) and indirect (ie, work-loss) costs for employees with painful conditions to a random sample ("average employee"). METHODS: An employer administrative claims database (approximately 600,000 insured lives) was used to identify patients with ICD-9 codes for painful conditions. Direct costs were total employer medical and medication costs and indirect costs were associated with medically related absenteeism days and disability claims. RESULTS: Among employees with painful conditions, total costs were 1.5 to 3.5 times as high (P < 0.01) as those of the average employee (ie, 7088 US dollars to 16,874 US dollars compared with 4,849 US dollars) depending on the painful condition. CONCLUSIONS: Painful conditions are costly to employers, and better management/treatment of such conditions may help reduce the associated employer economic burden.