A third of workers say they use prescription pain relievers, with the majority doing so under a doctor's care. (Photo: Shutterstock)

A third of U.S. workers use prescription pain medications, and as might be expected, those who do take far more sick days than those who don't. In addition, those who have problems with those medications take substantially more sick days than those who don't.

According to a new study released by the Integrated Benefits Institute, when they're compared with those who don't use prescription pain relievers at all, users who do not suffer from problems connected with their medication took more than twice the number of sick days, while problematic users took more than three times the number of sick days.

Related: Marijuana use among workers increasing, opioids decreasing

The analysis looked at the amount of time lost at work connected with prescription pain relievers when viewed within the context of other substance use disorders in the U.S. labor force. Among its findings is that use of prescription pain medications is associated with approximately 261 lost workdays per 1,000 workers per month.

A third of workers say they use prescription pain relievers, with the majority doing so under a doctor's care, and while males and millennials report being the most affected by substance use disorders, fewer than one out of 20 workers overall report abuse of or dependence on pain relievers.

Workers report the abuse of and dependence on alcohol at higher rates than they do similar situations connected with pain relievers and other prescription medications, and reported use of cocaine, methamphetamine or heroin was relatively uncommon.

The most excess absences were connected with the use of pain relievers, with on average 0.8 days of excess absences per month per person associated with nonproblematic use of such medications. Problematic use of pain relievers was associated with more than twice that—2.0 absences, or 1.2 excess days per month—compared with nonusers.

And predictably, in general, excess absences associated with problematic use of substances are significantly greater than for nonproblematic use.

“The high rates of prescription pain medicines among employees indicates a much larger issue for employers than lost productivity,” says IBI researcher Erin Peterson, MPH, the report's first author. “The significant number of sick day absences by employees who use pain relievers without problems likely doesn't represent the full impact. As most people abusing opioids started with prescribed medications, this is a very large number of people at risk for developing problematic behaviors associated with pain relievers.”

Read more: 

• Employers ignorant of employee opioid use
• Corporate culture, chronic disease and the care continuum
• Implementing alternatives to opioids among employees: what to know