Back pain cost €500m in 2002

WHILE back pain now costs the economy hundreds of millions of euro in disability payments each year, there is no plan to deal with it, a medical conference head said yesterday.

Professor Dominic Harmon told delegates at a University of Limerick organised symposium that while there are strategies in place for heart disease and cancer, no such strategy exists for chronic pain which costs the State more than the two other diseases combined.

Prof Harmon, consultant in pain medicine at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital said up to 13% of the general population report ongoing chronic pain.

This, he said, significantly interferes with their ability to carry out daily activities, and reduces their quality of life.

Prof Harmon said: “Chronic pain additionally has a huge societal cost and cost to healthcare providers, with disability payments for low back pain alone costing €500m here in 2002.”

Despite these statistics, he said the treatment facilities for chronic pain were wholly inadequate with just nine multidisciplinary pain clinics countrywide.

He said: “None of these are resourced adequately to meet international standards. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation is the mainstay of treatment for chronic pain. Therefore an additional six such programmes are required to meet population needs. National strategies exist for chronic diseases such as cardiac disease and cancer, yet although chronic pain costs the taxpayer more than both of these conditions combined, there is no national strategy to deal with it.”

The symposium brought together expert speakers from pain medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychology.

Katie Robinson, from the Dept of Occupational Therapy, at UL spoke on the occupational and activity consequences of chronic pain.

Karen McCreesh, who is attached to UL’s Department of Physiotherapy said: “It is hoped that continued collaboration between the disciplines involved will increase awareness of, and research into, all aspects of chronic pain, thus ultimately promoting best practice in service delivery for people with chronic pain in this country.”