Back pain is the most common cause of sick leave

DAK Health Report: Back pain is the most common cause of sick leave

02/17/2011

The Health Report of the German Employees Health Insurance Fund (DAK) for the year 2010, similar to the health report of the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), found that young employees take an increasing share of the number of sick leave letters. Most cases of sickness were caused by back pain.

Joint and back pain are according to the DAK Health Report 2010, according to the still the most common cause of sick leave in Germany. Around one in five employees had to be treated in 2010 because of back problems. However, young workers under the age of 30 are also increasingly affected.

Young workers are more likely to suffer from common diseases
While the sick leave rate in Germany stagnates at 3.4 percent (3.3 percent in TK reports) according to the health report of the DAK, the number of sick leave letters among under-30 employees is increasing. The young workers are increasingly suffering from the so-called widespread diseases such as back pain, high blood pressure or obesity, warn the experts of the DAK at the presentation of the Health Report 2010. Like the TK, the DAK, however, points out that under 30-year-olds were frequently prescribed sick leave older employees, but altogether no longer ill, as they usually recovered after a relatively short period of time. The high number of sick leave compares to a relatively short sick leave period, whereas the trend is reversed for older workers.

Sick leave stagnates at a low level
On average, 12.5 days, the 2.6 million people insured with the DAK in 2010 have had sick leave. Here, too, the numbers almost coincide with the figures given by TK (12.3 days lost). Most days lost were due to back and joint ailments with 22 percent, followed by respiratory diseases with 16 percent, which, however, declined slightly compared to the previous year. According to the DAK experts, the sick leave remains at a relatively low level. Despite the economic upswing in 2010, not more workers have obtained a medical certificate than in the crisis year of 2009, said the DAK CEO Herbert Rebscher. The frequently summoned „Legend of the cyclical dependence of sickness pay“ have not been confirmed in the health report. The assumption that employees in economically good times go to the doctor more often because they have less concern for their job and the associated „implicit accusation of bluffing is unstoppable“, emphasized Herbert Rebscher.

Young workers prepare the healthcare expert
Overall, both the DAK and the TK do not regard the sick leave in Germany as a particular problem, but the health of under 30-year-old employees prepares the experts of the two health insurance companies growing concerns. The DAK therefore carried out a representative survey of the under 30-year-old working people in parallel to the health report and took a closer look at their health status. More than 20 percent of respondents said they had one or more chronic illnesses. 46 percent of employees under the age of 30 often experience muscle tension and 30 percent complain of regular headaches. Obesity and high blood pressure were among the young workers, each with almost 6 percent relatively widespread diseases, which, according to the DAK chief „Warning signs for later chronic diseases such as diabetes or arteriosclerosis“ are.

Everyday work often pollutes the health
In particular, everyday working life often becomes a burden on the health of young employees. Nearly two-thirds of them feel that their daily work is burdensome and that even in economically better times, the fear of losing a job is always latent. Especially among the 36 percent of respondents who said they were happy to have a job at all. But not only the mental stress is enormous for many young employees, also the physical stress is sometimes considerable. For example, 25 percent of respondents said they were shiftworkers. According to the DAK experts, the onerous working conditions are one of the main reasons for the growing health problems of the young workers. In addition, more than half of respondents said they did not do sports. But physical activities would be a good way to prevent the mentioned symptoms such as back pain or overweight. In addition, it should be critically assessed that 27 percent of young employees said to drink up to three times a month with alcohol, so the experts of the DAK on.

Stress causes increase in mental illness
As a cause of stress at work, however, not only are too high loads in question, but also under stress could cause stress, warned the Hamburg psychiatry chief physician Hans-Peter Unger regarding the numbers of the health report. „Underloading can also be work-related stress“, so the expert. And stress is one of the main reasons why the number of mental illnesses among both young and older workers has again increased significantly over the past year. Although older employees are more affected, „however, we also see a significant increase in sick leave due to mental health diagnoses among younger employees in recent years“, Gudrun Ahlers explained at the presentation of the TK reports. The DAK health report confirms this trend. Many employees are unable to cope with the increased demands of the working world, such as the requirements for qualification and flexibility, according to the experts. However, the increase in mental illness is also attributable to a certain extent to the fact that these diseases are no longer as stigmatized as they used to be and patients are therefore more likely to seek medical help, the DAK reports. Overall, the number of cases of severe depression or manic-depressive diseases have not increased, so the statement of the DAK experts. (Fp)