ArticleBMC health services research2015
Problems with sickness certification tasks: experiences from physicians in different clinical settings. A cross-sectional nationwide study in Sweden.
Article in BMC health services research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Interventions regarding physicians' sickness certification practice - a systematic literature review with meta-analyses.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022Pooled it
- Training GPs to improve their management of work-related problems: results of a cluster randomized controlled trial.The European journal of general practice · 2018Trial
- Quality assessment in sickness certificates - changes over an eight-year period in Sweden and associated factors.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Unemployment and sickness allowance onset and prevalence: a longitudinal register-based study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Medical certification in sickness benefit scheme (II): practical approaches for evaluating work disability.Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Review
- No longer alone.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2025Article
- Clinical Work-Integrating Care in Current Practice: A Scoping Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Occupational health patients' parallel use of primary- and secondary-care services and linkage to work disability: A follow-up study in Finland.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2024Article
- "That's probably how you would want care to be" - experiences of sick leave teams at a health center, a mixed method study.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Mapping information regarding the work-related disability of depression and long-term musculoskeletal pain to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and ICF Core Sets.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2023Article
- 'But there are so many referrals which are totally … only generating work and irritation': a qualitative study of physicians' and nurses' experiences of work tasks in primary care in Sweden.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022Article
- Physician's use of sickness certification guidelines: a nationwide survey of 13 750 physicians in different types of clinics in Sweden.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Legitimacy of work tasks, psychosocial work environment, and time utilization among primary care staff in Sweden.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2019Article
- Pain drawings, interpreter support and clinical findings among immigrant patients on sick leave in Swedish primary health care.Primary health care research & development · 2019Article
- Work Disability Trajectories Among Individuals with a Sick-Leave Spell Due to Depressive Episode ≥ 21 Days: A Prospective Cohort Study with 13-Month Follow Up.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2018Article
- Neurologists dealing with sickness certification: Experiences of problems and need of competence.Brain and behavior · 2017Article
- Obstetricians/Gynecologists' Problems in Sickness Certification Consultations: Two Nationwide Surveys.Obstetrics and gynecology international · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMany physicians find sickness certification of patients problematic. The aims were to explore problems that physicians in different clinical settings experience with sickness certification tasks in general and with assessment of function, work capacity, and need for sick leave, as well as handling of sick-leave spells of different durations.
methodsData from a questionnaire sent to 33,144 physicians aged <68 years, living and working in Sweden in 2012 were analysed. The response rate was 57.6%. The study group comprised the 12,933 responders who had sickness certification tasks. Frequencies and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for questions concerning how problematic the physicians experienced different assessments related to patients' function, work capacity, and need for sick leave, as well as handling sick-leave spells of different durations.
resultsThere were large differences between clinical settings regarding how often and to what extent sickness certification consultations were perceived as problematic. Physicians working in primary health care (PHC) had the highest proportions experiencing sickness certification consultations as problematic at least once a week (49.5%) and as very or fairly problematic (56.6%), followed by physicians working in psychiatry, pain management, or orthopaedics. More than half of the responders found it very or fairly problematic to assess patients' work capacity (57.8%), to make a long-term prognosis about patients' future work capacity (55.7%), and to handle long-term or very long-term sickness certifications (51.9% and 51.8%). The proportions were highest among physicians working in PHC, rheumatology, neurology, or psychiatry.
conclusionsThe rates of physicians finding sickness certification task problematic varied much with clinical setting, and were highest among physicians in PHC. More knowledge is needed about the work conditions and prerequisites for optimal handling of sickness certification in different clinical settings.
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