National Back Health Day on March 15, 2016: Germany – a country with a bad back – has over 60 million sick days per year

To mark Back Health Day on March 15, the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) health insurance company is publishing preliminary data from its annual health report. The current analysis shows that back problems again led to significant absenteeism last year. Of the 15.4 days that TK-insured working people were on sick leave on average in 2015, almost ten percent (1.4 days) were due to back problems alone. Extrapolated to the more than 43 million working people in Germany, this results in over 60 million days of absence.

Gudrun Ahlers, responsible for health reporting at TK: “For a medium-sized company with 150 employees, that amounts to 210 days of lost production per year. In other words, back problems alone cost the company a year's salary.”

According to TK (Techniker Krankenkasse), the most common diagnosis among back problems is the very nonspecific diagnosis of "back pain," which alone accounts for half of all complaints, or 0.8 days of sick leave per person. Back pain thus ranked third among the main causes of sick leave in 2015, behind respiratory infections and depressive episodes.

Overall, women were on sick leave for an average of 17.2 days, three days more than men (13.9 days). They are more affected than men by almost all diagnoses. Back pain is one of the few conditions that affects both sexes equally. In the case of sick leave due to back pain, women are absent for an average of 18 days, just over a day longer than men (16.9 days).

The TK Back Atlas, a previous study by the health insurance company, shows that there are significant differences between industries. "In particular, jobs in the construction industry, professional drivers, nursing and cleaning staff are associated with above-average rates of back problems," according to the TK expert.

According to TK, there are also significant regional differences: While people in Baden-Württemberg have the fewest back problems with 1.1 back-related absences per capita, working people in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are most affected with almost two days.

To prevent back problems, TK recommends regular moderate exercise. “Because just like unhealthy physical strain, lack of exercise is also a trigger for back problems,” says Ahlers.

In addition to promoting back health through workplace health management, it is crucial that patients receive high-quality medical care to avoid lengthy and painful sick leave. TK CEO Dr. Jens Baas therefore advocates for improved quality in medical care but rejects rigid, long-term treatment programs: “Back pain is often diagnosed nonspecifically, and its causes are diverse. It affects a large number of people to varying degrees. Therefore, we need targeted services that are individually tailored to each patient.”