Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37620927›Full record

ArticleBMC research notes2023

The humanistic and economic burden of work-related musculoskeletal pain: a cross-sectional survey of workers in the United Kingdom.

Adam B Smith, Stephanie Cooper, Jennifer Hanning, Carolyn Buckley

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC research notes, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Frequency, Severity and Ergonomic Awareness of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Australian Optometrists: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Adam B SmithHealth Outcomes, Reckitt, Slough, UK.
Stephanie CooperGlobal Medical Affairs, Reckitt, Slough, UK. stephanie.cooper@reckitt.com.
Jennifer HanningGlobal Medical Affairs, Reckitt, Slough, UK.
Carolyn BuckleyGlobal Medical Affairs, Reckitt, Slough, UK.
Reckitt Benckiser (United Kingdom) · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of work-related musculoskeletal (MSK) lower body pain on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and work productivity in a large sample of workers in the United Kingdom, as well as evaluating the potential economic impact of MSK pain.

methodsParticipants with self-reported work-related MSK pain were recruited from an online panel maintained by a third party (Qualtrics LLC). Participants completed three validated instruments online: the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Assessment of Quality of Life Instrument (AQoL-4D), and the 6-item Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI). Sociodemographic details, work patterns and healthcare resource utilisation were also reported. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests were used to explore differences between variables. Linear regression was applied to determine the impact of work-related MSK pain on HRQoL.

resultsAll 1035 recruited participants completed the survey (57.4% female; mean age 43.4 years). Participants reported spending all (25.2%) or most (53%) of their time at work on their feet. Mean pain severity was 4.63 (standard deviation: 2.07); mean pain interference was 4.37 (2.49). There was a linear relationship between length of shift, time on feet and pain. Mean AQoL-4D scores were 0.609 (0.254). A mean of 4.12 h was lost per week due to pain. Absenteeism (last 7 days) was 9.5% (20.7%), and presenteeism 33.3% (24.9%). An average 1.55 visits were made to family practitioners (total cost: £19,866) and 1 hospital visit (£37,320) due to work-related MSK pain.

conclusionThis study demonstrated that work-related lower body pain has a significant impact in terms of individual HRQoL and as an economic societal burden.

Indexed as

Musculoskeletal PainAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleFinancial StressHumansMaleQuality of LifeUnited KingdomAbsenteeismEconomic costHealth-related quality of lifeLower body painPresenteeismQuestionnaireWork productivityWork-related musculoskeletal pain

Identifiers

PMID37620927
PMCPMC10463619
OpenAlexW4386127023

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.