Overcoming pain as a barrier to work.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To consider whether pain is a barrier to work and if so how this can be overcome.

RECENT FINDINGS

Recent findings demonstrate that in addition to absence, pain can lead to a significant loss of productivity. The reasons why employees take absence or attend work while ill are complex and include personal, social and moral pressures around absence, and personally and institutionally mediated presenteeism. Interventions have moved on from a purely biomedical or psychosocial focus towards integrated programmes supporting individuals in managing their pain in the workplace.

SUMMARY

Pain is one of the leading causes of absenteeism and presenteeism with related costs for both employees and employers. Ongoing pain presents a number of physical, psychological and social obstacles to work, which may or may not be modifiable. A range of interventions has been tested in randomized trials with a recent move towards identifying and tackling musculoskeletal pain in the wider context as conceptualized by the flags framework. However, in order for any intervention to be successful in ensuring employees overcome pain as a barrier to work, there needs to be widespread change in behaviour with regard to occupational health in general and effective interventions need to be implemented in both workplace and healthcare settings.