ArticleBMC family practice2015
General practitioners and sickness certification for injury in Australia.
Article in BMC family practice, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Use of General Practitioner Services Among Workers with Work-Related Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Independent medical evaluation for sick-listed patients: a focus group study of GPs´ expectations and experiences.BMC health services research · 2018Trial
- Facilitators and Barriers to Collaboration Between General Practice and Sickness Benefits Office in Return to Work Processes-A Scoping Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Review
- Clinician Experiences of and Responses to the Challenges of Working with Patients in the Australian Compensation Setting.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Getting an outsider's perspective - sick-listed workers' experiences with early follow-up sessions in the return to work process: a qualitative interview study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Exploring the perspectives of key stakeholders in returning to work after minor to serious road traffic injuries: a qualitative study.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2023Article
- Timing of Health Service Use Among Truck Drivers After a Work-Related Injury or Illness.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Psychiatrists' Experience of Vocational Rehabilitation for Patients with Mental Illness.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2021Article
- Implementing work-related Mental health guidelines in general PRacticE (IMPRovE): a protocol for a hybrid III parallel cluster randomised controlled trial.Implementation science : IS · 2021Article
- Health, Work, and Family Strain - Psychosocial Experiences at the Early Stages of Long-Term Sickness Absence.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Complex return to work process - caseworkers' experiences of facilitating return to work for individuals on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Defining key questions for clinical practice guidelines: a novel approach for developing clinically relevant questions.Health research policy and systems · 2020Article
- Article
- Psychological Distress in Workers' Compensation Claimants: Prevalence, Predictors and Mental Health Service Use.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2020Article
- Australian General Practitioners' and Compensable Patients: Factors Affecting Claim Management and Return to Work.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2019Observational
- Biopsychosocial barriers affecting recovery after a minor transport-related injury: A qualitative study from Victoria.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2019Article
- Work Disability in Australia: An Overview of Prevalence, Expenditure, Support Systems and Services.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2019Article
- Recovery Within Injury Compensation Schemes: A System Mapping Study.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2019Article
- Perceived Role and Expectations of Health Care Providers in Return to Work.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2019Article
- Do Health Service Use and Return-to-Work Outcomes Differ with GPs' Injured-Worker Caseload?Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStrong evidence supports an early return to work after injury as a way to improve recovery. In Australia, General Practitioners (GPs) see about 96 % of injured workers, making them the main gatekeepers to workers' entitlements. Most people with compensable injuries in Australia are certified as "unfit to work" by their GP, with a minority of patients certified for modified work duties. The reasons for this apparent dissonance between evidence and practice remain unexplored. Little is known about the factors that influence GP sickness certification behaviour in Australia. The aim of this study is to describe the factors influencing Australian GPs certification practice through qualitative interviews with four key stakeholders.
methodsFrom September to December 2012, 93 semi-structured interviews were undertaken in Melbourne, Australia. Participants included GPs, injured workers, employers and compensation agents. Data were thematically analysed.
resultsFive themes describing factors influencing GP certification were identified: 1. Divergent stakeholder views about the GP's role in facilitating return to work; 2. Communication between the four stakeholder groups; 3. Conflict between the stakeholder groups; 4. Allegations of GPs and injured workers misusing the compensation system and 5. The layout and content of the sickness certificate itself.
conclusionBy exploring GP certification practice from the perspectives of four key stakeholders, this study suggests that certification is an administrative and clinical task underpinned by a host of social and systemic factors. The findings highlight opportunities such as practice guideline development and improvements to the sickness certificate itself that may be targeted to improve GP sickness certification behaviour and return to work outcomes in an Australian context.
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