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Cited by 191Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationWorkplace Health and Well-beingMedical Practices and Rehabilitation

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Chronic pain, work performance and litigation

Blyth, Fiona M, March, Lyn M, Nicholas, Michael K, Cousins, Michael J·2003·Pain
DOI 10.1016/s0304-3959(02)00380-9
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Abstract

The overall population impact of chronic pain on work performance has been underestimated as it has often been described in terms of work-related absence, excluding more subtle effects that chronic pain may have on the ability to work effectively. Additionally, most studies have focussed on occupational and/or patient cohorts and treatment seeking, rather than sampling from the general population. We undertook a population-based random digit dialling computer-assisted telephone survey with participants randomly selected within households in order to measure the impact of chronic pain on work performance. In addition, we measured the association between pain-related disability and litigation. The study took place in Northern Sydney Health Area, a geographically defined urban area of New South Wales, Australia, and included 484 adults aged 18 or over with chronic pain. The response rate was 73.4%. Working with pain was more common (on an average 83.8 days in 6 months) than lost work days due to pain (4.5 days) among chronic pain participants in full-time or part-time employment. When both lost work days and reduced-effectiveness work days were summed, an average of 16.4 lost work day equivalents occurred in a 6-month period, approximately three times the average number of lost work days. In multiple logistic regression modelling with pain-related disability as the dependent variable, past or present pain-related litigation had the strongest association (odds ratio (OR)=3.59, P=0.001). In conclusion, chronic pain had a larger impact on work performance than has previously been recognised, related to reduced performance while working with pain. A significant proportion were able to work effectively with pain, suggesting that complete relief of pain may not be an essential therapeutic target. Litigation (principally work-related) for chronic pain was strongly associated with higher levels of pain-related disability, even after taking into account other factors associated with poor functional outcomes.

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Crossref · 10.1016/s0304-3959(02)00380-9

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Cohen, 2000, Medical assessment and management of work-related low back and neckarm pain., Occup Health Saf Aust NZ, 16, 307
  2. Spitzer, 1987, Scientific approach to the assessment and management of activity-related spinal disorders: a monograph for clinicians. Report of the Task Force on Spinal Disorders., Spine, 12, S9
  3. Stewart, 1998, Reliability of an illness severity measure for headache in a population sample of migraine sufferers., Cephalalgia, 18, 44, 10.1046/j.1468-2982.1998.1801044.x · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Blyth, F. M., March, L. M., Nicholas, M. K., & Cousins, M. J.
Affiliations
The University of Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Blyth, Fiona M
ORCID
Venue
Pain
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2003-05
Volume
103
Issue
1
Pages
41-47
ISSN
0304-3959 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0304-3959(02)00380-9
OpenAlex
W2017538611
Cited by
191
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 11
FWCI
5.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Pain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Medical Practices and Rehabilitation
Keywords
chronic pain, employee performance, pain-related disability, litigation, absenteeism, population survey, employment, functional outcome
MeSH terms
Australia, Chronic Disease, Disability Evaluation, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Jurisprudence, Male, Middle Aged, Pain, Pain Measurement, Sex Factors, Work, Work Capacity Evaluation, Workers' Compensation, Prevalence, Age Distribution

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