INFOpmi zona 8 Ascona e Valli - Pain Therapy. Diagnosis and treatment of pain in state-of-the-art integrated medicine

Back pain is the most frequent osteoarticular disorder in the entire population, second only to respiratory diseases. It is the most frequent cause of medical treatment: in the course of a lifetime, approximately 80 per cent of adults may experience at least one episode of low back pain, and statistics indicate an annual prevalence of symptoms in 50 per cent of adults of working age. Men and women are affected equally; it occurs more frequently in productive age and, therefore, entails high individual and social costs in terms of diagnostic investigations and treatment, reduced productivity and reduced ability to perform daily activities (Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest healthcare expenditure in the world; a 2011 study estimates the annual costs of back pain at CHF 6.6 billion, corresponding to 2.3% of national GDP).

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