From the *Finnish Office for Health Technology Assessment, National Research and Development Center, FinOHTA/Stakes, Helsinki; †National Public Health Institute, Helsinki; ‡Department of Radiology, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki; §Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki; ∥ORTON Orthopedic Hospital, Invalid Foundation, Helsinki; ¶Department of Physiatrics, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio; #Department of Neurosurgery, Turku University Hospital, Turku; **Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu; ††Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio; and ‡‡Helsinki Psychotherapy Study, Social Insurance Institution, Helsinki, Finland.
Supported by the Finnish Office for Health Technology Assessment, and the participating hospitals.
Acknowledgment date: October 12, 2004. First revision date: July 8, 2005. Second revision date: December 21, 2005. Third revision date: March 13, 2006. Acceptance date: March 14, 2006.
The manuscript submitted does not contain information about medical device(s)/drug(s).
Institutional funds were received in support of this work. No benefits in any form have been or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this manuscript.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Antti Malmivaara, MD, PhD, Finnish Office for Health Technology Assessment, Lintulahdenkuja 4, 00530 Helsinki, Finland; E-mail: [email protected]