Getting backs on track.
20 February 2017
Author:
Peter Rana
Back conditions are a significant burden of health loss across the population. The New Zealand Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study, 2006-2016 ranked Low Back Pain (LBP) as the third biggest contributor to health loss in New Zealand, as measured in disability adjusted life years (DALYs). One DALY is equivalent to loss of one year of healthy life. It estimated that back disorders were associated with 27,112 DALYs in the New Zealand population in 2006 and that 10% of the New Zealand population, or around 437,000 people, had a back condition.
Costs associated with LBP that are covered by Vote:Health (the primary source of funding for New Zealand's health and disability system) are estimated to be about $215 million per year and more than $325 million per year when ACC costs are included.
Back pain is a big, expensive problem!
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