Researchers used data from the American Productivity Audit to measure lost productivity in the US due to common pain conditions. In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003, they reported that "Overall, the estimated $61.2 billion per year in pain-related lost productive time in our study accounts for 27% of the total estimated work-related cost of pain conditions in the US workforce."
Stewart, Walter F., PhD, MPH, Judith A. Ricci, ScD, MS, Elsbeth Chee, ScD, David Morganstein, MS, Richard Lipton, MD, "Lost Productive Time and Cost Due to Common Pain Conditions in the US Workforce," Journal of the American Medical Association (Chicago, IL: American Medical Association, Nov. 12, 2003), Vol. 290, No. 18, p. 2449.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/a…
