Roughly one in three workers (34%) claiming social security benefits for disability suffered from musculoskeletal conditions, along with 30.7% of workers making private insurance claims.
Growing rates of MSK conditions are likely the result of an aging working population. In 2012, the percentage of older adults claiming disability benefits increased for both private insurers and social security. Now 57% of private insurance disability claimants are over the age of 50. Women also continue to make up a slight majority of claims, representing 54% of private insurance claimants.
Overall private insurers awarded $9.4 million to workers in 2012, up slightly from the previous year. Although the dollar amount has increased, the actual number of those seeking new claims decreased, reversing a four year upward trend. Insurers surveyed attributed the slower growth in claims to an improving economy. New claim applications and awards have also decreased for SSDI, but the number of people receiving social security has reached an all-time high of 8.8 million people or 5% of the US workforce.
The fact that musculoskeletal complaints are the number cause of worker disability may not come as huge surprise for many employees since some estimates say that up to 89% of office workers suffer from musculoskeletal conditions. And a global study published last year in The Lancet showed that musculoskeletal diseases were the second most common disability in the world.
Reference
The 2013 Council for Disability Awareness Long-term Disability Claims Review. Council for Disability Awareness. Accessed June 18, 2013. http://www.disabilitycanhappen.org/research/CDA_LTD_Claims_Survey_2013.asp.
Written by: Marissa Luck on June 20, 2013. Originally on http://www.chironexus.net/2013/06/musculoskeletal-disorders-leading-cause-of-worker-disability/
