[Economic significance of work disability caused by musculoskeletal disorders].

Musculoskeletal disorders are the most expensive form of work disability for companies. In Germany, they are responsible for almost 27% of all production downtimes caused by sick leave from work. The direct and indirect annual expenses of these disorders amount to approximately 24.5 billion Euro for the labor force and approximately 38 billion Euro for the total population. For analytical and practical reasons, measures for prevention of this socioeconomic damage should be implemented in companies.