[What do the waiting lists cost? A study of patients with backache]

Waiting for treatment usually contributes to patients' psychological and financial problems. In this study we calculate and discuss the economic implications of these patients being on a waiting list for treatment. Our calculations show that the income lost in economic production is higher than the cost of treating patients with degenerative low back pain. This is mainly because these afflictions strike people of working age and render them invalids, whereas early adequate treatment usually allows the patients to take up their previous work.