A new report, released by the Office of National Statistics, has found that around 131 million working days were lost to sickness absence in 2011. This represented a fall since a survey done in 1993, with the amount of time lost per worker in 2011 being four and a half days, down from just over seven days in 1993.
Although the most common reason given for sickness absence was minor ailments such as coughs and colds, the greatest number of working days (34.4 million) were lost due to musculoskeletal conditions such as back pain, neck pain and upper limb problems.
Tim Hutchful from the British Chiropractic Association, said: “The incidence of back pain continues to take it’s toll on the working and leisure life of people in the UK. It is important for people to seek appropriate help for their back pain and, according to the NICE Guidelines issued in May 2009, chiropractic treatment is one way that people receive help with their back pain.”
To see more information on the Office of National Statistics report, click here.