ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2004
Patient factors associated with duration of certified sickness absence and transition to long-term incapacity.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prognostic Factors and Models for Predicting Work Absence in Adults with Musculoskeletal Conditions Consulting a Healthcare Practitioner: A Systematic Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Researching the mental health needs of hard-to-reach groups: managing multiple sources of evidence.BMC health services research · 2009Pooled it
- Outcomes of an interdisciplinary return to work intervention including occupational therapy for mood and adjustment disorders: A single-arm clinical trial.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2023Trial
- Effect of Reassuring Information About Musculoskeletal and Mental Health Complaints at the Workplace: A Cluster Randomized Trial of the atWork Intervention.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2019Trial
- Affecting patients with work-related problems by educational training of their GPs: a cost-effectiveness study.BMC family practice · 2019Trial
- Trial
- The effectiveness of the "Brainwork Intervention" in reducing sick leave for unemployed workers with psychological problems: design of a controlled clinical trial.BMC public health · 2015Trial
- Exercise therapy for stress-related mental disorder, a randomised controlled trial in primary care.BMC family practice · 2011Trial
- Lifestyle counselling by Dutch occupational health professionals and its determinants: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Anxious Dads and Depressed Moms: Child Disability and the Mental Health of Parents.Health economics · 2025Article
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- A Novel Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Based Model for Mental Health in Occupational Health Implemented on Smartphone and Web-Based Platforms: Development Study With Results From an Epidemiologic Survey.Journal of Korean medical science · 2023Article
- Ten-year trends in long-term sickness absence among Japanese public servants: 2009-2018.Industrial health · 2023Article
- Sociodemographic and morbidity characteristics of people on long-term sick leave.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Cost of Health-Related Work Productivity Loss among Fly-In Fly-Out Mining Workers in Australia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Factors related to self-rated health: a survey among patients and their general practitioners.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022Article
- Effects of a vocational rehabilitation programme on return to work among sick-listed primary health care patients: a population-based matched, case-control study.BMC family practice · 2020Article
- Article
- How Can Supervisors Contribute to the Return to Work of Employees Who have Experienced Depression?Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2018Article
- The effect of long-term sickness absence on coworkers in the same work unit.Industrial health · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite a considerable increase in claims for long-term sickness benefits, and the impact of certifying sickness upon general practitioner (GP) workload, little is known about transition to long-term incapacity for work.
aimTo explore the relationship between patient factors and the transition from short-term to long-term work incapacity, in particular focusing on mild mental health and musculoskeletal problems.
settingNine practices comprising the Mersey Primary Care R&D Consortium.
designProspective data collection and audit of sickness certificate details.
methodGPs issued carbonised sickness certificates for a period of 12 months. The resulting baseline dataset included claimant diagnosis, age, sex, postcode-derived deprivation score, and sickness episode duration. Associations of patient factors with sickness duration outcomes were tested.
resultsMild mental disorder accounted for nearly 40% of certified sickness. Relatively few claimants had their diagnosis changed during a sickness episode. Risk factors for longer-term incapacity included increasing age, social deprivation, mild and severe mental disorder, neoplasm, and congenital illness. For mild mental disorder claimants, age, addiction, and deprivation were risk factors for relatively longer incapacity. For musculoskeletal problems, the development of chronic incapacity was significantly related to the nature of the problem. Back pain claimants were likely to return to work sooner than those with other musculoskeletal problems.
conclusionsIn addition to the presenting diagnosis, a range of factors is associated with the development of chronic incapacity for work, including age and social deprivation. GPs should consider these when negotiating sickness certification with patients.
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Identifiers
14965385PMC1314799What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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