ArticleJRSM open2016
Working as a doctor when acutely ill: comments made by doctors responding to United Kingdom surveys.
Article in JRSM open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Healthcare Professionals' Own Experiences of Domestic Violence and Abuse: A Meta-Analysis of Prevalence and Systematic Review of Risk Markers and Consequences.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2023Pooled it
- Going to work sick: A scoping review of illness presenteeism among physicians and medical trainees.Medical education · 2025Article
- Assessment of Student Perspectives on Improving Wellness in Medical School: Qualitative Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey of Medical Students in Florida.Advances in medical education and practice · 2021Article
- Adverse effects on health and wellbeing of working as a doctor: views of the UK medical graduates of 1974 and 1977 surveyed in 2014.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2017Article
- Working as a doctor when chronically ill or disabled: comments made by doctors responding to UK surveys.JRSM open · 2016Article
- A Self-Monitoring Mobile App to Mitigate Risk Factors for Suicide and Self-Harm in Junior (Resident) Doctors: A Review, Thematic Analysis and Concept Proposal.Healthcare technology lettersReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesWe undertook multi-purpose surveys of doctors who qualified in the United Kingdom between 1993 and 2012. Doctors were asked specific questions about their careers and were asked to comment about any aspect of their training or work. We report doctors' comments about working whilst acutely ill.
designSelf-completed questionnaire surveys.
settingUnited Kingdom.
participantsNine cohorts of doctors, comprising all United Kingdom medical qualifiers of 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2012.
main outcome measuresComments made by doctors about working when ill, in surveys one, five and 10 years after graduation.
resultsThe response rate, overall, was 57.4% (38,613/67,224 doctors). Free-text comments were provided by 30.7% (11,859/38,613). Three-hundred and twenty one doctors (2.7% of those who wrote comments) wrote about working when feeling acutely ill. Working with Exhaustion/fatigue was the most frequent topic raised (195 doctors), followed by problems with Taking time off for illness (112), and general comments on Physical/mental health problems (66). Other topics raised included Support from others, Leaving or adapting/coping with the situation, Bullying, the Doctor's ability to care for patients and Death/bereavement. Arrangements for cover due to illness were regarded as insufficient by some respondents; some wrote that doctors were expected to work harder and longer to cover for colleagues absent because of illness.
conclusionsWe recommend that employers ensure that it is not unduly difficult for doctors to take time off work when ill, and that employers review their strategies for covering ill doctors who are off work.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.