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Back pain claim rates and the business cycle

Author

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  • Brooker, Ann-Sylvia
  • Frank, John W.
  • Tarasuk, Valerie S.

Abstract

The causes of reported occupational back pain are controversial. Many observers appear to believe that job insecurity increases back pain compensation claims during recessions. The purpose of this study was to formally examine the impact of macro-economic forces--the business cycle--on the incidence of lost-time back pain claim rates in order to elicit clues to both its aetiology and reporting patterns. For Ontario between 1975 and 1993, age- and sex-adjusted lost-time back pain claim rates, stratified by industry sector (construction, manufacturing and trade), were regressed on the unemployment rate of the industry sector using time series methods. As a comparison group, the association between "acute" claims (fractures, lacerations, etc.) and the business cycle was also tested. Both back pain claim rates and acute claim rates increased during boom periods and decreased during recessionary periods. Time series analyses confirmed that these associations were statistically significant. The elasticities between claim rates and the unemployment rate were similar for back pain claims and acute claims. In addition, these associations were consistent in direction across all three industrial sectors tested. These results rebut the view that back pain claims increase during recessionary times.

Suggested Citation

  • Brooker, Ann-Sylvia & Frank, John W. & Tarasuk, Valerie S., 1997. "Back pain claim rates and the business cycle," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 429-439, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:45:y:1997:i:3:p:429-439
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michele Campolieti, 2002. "Moral Hazard and Disability Insurance: On the Incidence of Hard-to-Diagnose Medical Conditions in the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan Disability Program," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 28(3), pages 419-441, September.
    2. Boone, Jan & van Ours, Jan C. & Wuellrich, Jean-Philippe & Zweimüller, Josef, 2011. "Recessions are bad for workplace safety," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 764-773, July.
    3. Hugo Benítez-Silva & Richard Disney & Sergi Jiménez-Martín, 2010. "Disability, capacity for work and the business cycle: an international perspective [Has the boom in incapacity benefit claimant numbers passed its peak?]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 25(63), pages 483-536.
    4. McManus, T. Clay & Schaur, Georg, 2016. "The effects of import competition on worker health," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 160-172.
    5. Macchia, Lucía & Oswald, Andrew J., 2021. "Physical pain, gender, and the state of the economy in 146 nations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    6. Bartys, Serena & Frederiksen, Pernille & Bendix, Tom & Burton, Kim, 2017. "System influences on work disability due to low back pain: An international evidence synthesis," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(8), pages 903-912.
    7. Gaurav Khemka & Steven Roberts & Timothy Higgins, 2017. "The Impact of Changes to the Unemployment Rate on Australian Disability Income Insurance Claim Incidence," Risks, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Michele Campolieti & Harry A. Krashinsky, 2003. "Substitution Between Disability Support Programs in Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(4), pages 417-429, December.

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