More than half (51%) of UK workers have suffered from back pain in the last 12 months with one in five needing time off work as a result, research finds.
Figures showed that the prevalence of back pain is high among every age group, with half (51%) of people aged between 16 and 54 suffering some form of back pain - neck to hip - in the past year.
The Nuffield Health study of 1,600 16 - 65-year-olds found those aged 55 - 65 were most likely to be affected (58%) with women most likely to suffer.
One in five people who responded said that back pain interfered with their work and home life ‘most days' with one in 20 people saying they lived with constant pain.
For those aged over 55, that figure doubles, with almost one ten (9%) saying they are in constant pain, while a quarter said they are in pain ‘most days'.
A third of those surveyed said they had lived with back pain for more than a year; a quarter said more than two years and one in seven (15%) said they had been in pain for more than five years.
Almost half of those surveyed said they had sought treatment via their GP, but a third said they had failed to find a successful treatment solution.
Office for National Statistics figures for 2011 confirmed that musculoskeletal problems accounted for 34.4 million lost working days last year, more than any other illness.
Nuffield Health group medical director Dr Andy Jones, said: "Back pain affects a huge number of people on a daily basis.
"If these figures reflect the wider working population you have a situation where many thousands of people are suffering permanent, debilitating back pain.
"People are often left to cope with pain killers because they have been told their treatment options have been exhausted, when often this is not the case."
Nuffield Health Tees Hospital consultant spinal surgeon Manoj Krishna added that back, neck and spine pain can be very debilitating and often leads to depression and long term sickness.
