Table 4. Total societal cost of chronic pain for Alberta.

Cost component	Low Billion $ (%)	High Billion $ (%)
Direct cost:
Healthcare services	1.2 (19.2%)	1.7 (20.6%)
Long-term care services	1.0 (16.0%)	1.0 (12.1%)
WCB compensations	0.06 (1%)	0.06 (0.7%)
Indirect cost (Productivity losses):
People with chronic pain	3.4 (54.3%)	4.7 (56.9%)
Informal caregivers	0.6 (9.6%)	0.8 (9.7%)
Total	6.3 (100%)	8.3 (100%)
Total as a percentage of GDP*	2.0%	2.7%

*Based on GDP = $307.5 billion.²⁷