ArticleThe European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care2011
Cost of low back pain in Switzerland in 2005.
Article in The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 93 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effectiveness of Monopolar Dielectric Diathermy by Radiofrequency and Supervised Therapeutic Exercise in Pain, Functionality, Mobility of the Spine and Quality of Life of Patients With Non-specific Chronic Low Back Pain.
Can Patient Expectations Influence Pain Reduction After Epidural Injections in Patients With Low Back Pain? An Observational Cohort Study
Who cites it
93 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 214 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global and regional estimates of clinical and economic burden of low back pain in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among perioperative nurses: a systematic review and META-analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Myofascial Release for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Movement Control Impairment and Low Back Pain: State of the Art of Diagnostic Framing.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Predictors of low back disability in chiropractic and physical therapy settings.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2020Trial
- Mechanisms for reducing low back pain: a mediation analysis of a multifaceted intervention in workers in elderly care.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2019Trial
- Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of the effect of participatory ergonomic low back pain training on workplace improvement.Journal of occupational health · 2017Trial
- Study protocol of cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of a biopsychosocial multidisciplinary intervention in the evolution of non-specific sub-acute low back pain in the working population: cluster randomised trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2011Trial
- PRIME - A multilevel intervention for low back pain management in primary care: Protocol for an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 1 cluster randomized controlled trial.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2026Article
- Leisure-time physical activity and low back pain in Switzerland: results from the 2022 cross-sectional Swiss Health Survey.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- Returning to Work and Cost-Effectiveness After Lumbar Facet Cryodenervation Among Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Health care epidemiology, characteristics, and regional variation of chiropractic care in Switzerland: a descriptive study using insurance claims data.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Article
- Pain and Disability Therapy with Stabilization Exercises in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Cost of illness analysis in individuals with overweight or obesity and chronic low back pain in the Bern metropolitan area (the BO2WL trial).Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Trajectories of opioid use among patients with low back pain: Association to work absence.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- The Economic Analysis of the Overlooked Recurrent Low Back Pain: Three Years Retrospective Observational Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent health problem in Switzerland and a leading cause of reduced work performance and disability. This study estimated the total cost of LBP in Switzerland in 2005 from a societal perspective using a bottom-up prevalence-based cost-of-illness approach. The study considers more cost categories than are typically investigated and includes the costs associated with a multitude of LBP sufferers who are not under medical care. The findings are based on a questionnaire completed by a sample of 2,507 German-speaking respondents, of whom 1,253 suffered from LBP in the last 4 weeks; 346 of them were receiving medical treatment for their LBP. Direct costs of LBP were estimated at <euro>2.6 billion and direct medical costs at 6.1% of the total healthcare expenditure in Switzerland. Productivity losses were estimated at <euro>4.1 billion with the human capital approach and <euro>2.2 billion with the friction cost approach. Presenteeism was the single most prominent cost category. The total economic burden of LBP to Swiss society was between 1.6 and 2.3% of GDP.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.