Introduction: Disability produced by locomotor pathology causes a loss in working hours and indirect costs that are increasing at a growing rate. The aims of this study are to estimate the costs in total working hours lost caused by this pathology in two health areas of Navarra with 441,600 inhabitants, to obtain standards for the duration and incidence of sick leave and to study the relation between the average duration of sick leave and variables such as the geographical accessibility of the rehabilitation services, residence in a rural or urban milieu, and between the different health areas.
Methods: We study all the processes of temporary disability due to pathology of the locomotor system in Health Areas I and III of Navarra in 1997 and 1998, taking different variables into account. We make a descriptive study of the pathologies, counting the working days lost. We calculate the annual incidence of sick leave because of pathologies. We compare average duration with other variables.
Results: These represent 221,054 lost working days per year. Low back pain and sprained ankles are the most frequent processes. We find an increase in the incidence of temporary disability due to low back pain and lumbar/sciatica in the basic rural areas of the middle region. There are no statistically significant differences with a p<0.05 in the duration of temporary disability according to Health Area, rural or urban milieu or geographical accessibility to the Rehabilitation Services. A statistically significant fall can be observed in the first year of operation of a temporary disability management program.