Economic impact of mechanical low back pain / Impacto económico de la lumbalgia mecánica

Resumen

Introduction: Low back pain is considered a public health problem worldwide because of its relationship with temporary incapacity for work and its high economic costs. In the IMSS, it is estimated that at least 50% of the beneficiaries correspond to the economically active population, and up to 25% of them go for consultation due to low back pain. The objective of this study was to count the direct costs and days of incapacity for mechanical low back pain recognized as an occupational risk in the period from May 2022 to May 2023. Method: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective study was carried out. Using the Shapiro-Wilk statistical test, a freely distributed population was obtained, and 305 files were reviewed in the Integral System of Occupational Health of the UMF 57. Medians and interquartile ranges were obtained for the quantitative variables, and frequencies and percentages for qualitative variables. Finally, the direct costs for the IMSS and the days of incapacity granted during the one-year period were accounted for. Results: The median number of days workers missed due to low back pain at UMF 57 Puebla was 8, and a total of 7,626 work loss days from May 2022 to May 2023. The direct cost for IMSS for the total of these occupational injuries was $2,394,472.64 MXN for payments related to missed work. Which is different from that reported in the existing literature.