Effects on physicians' sick-listing practice of an administrative reform narrowing sick-listing benefits

Englund, Lars; Tibblin, Gösta; Svärdsudd, Kurt

doi:10.1080/028134300448779

Cited by 45 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…[28][29][30] European studies have also reported musculoskeletal and mental health conditions as the most common reasons for certification. [31][32][33][34] It is possible that the rate of certification is higher in some conditions as a result of increased primary care attendance. For example, the rate of certification for mental health conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, injury, and respiratory conditions may be increased as they are all associated with frequent attendance in general practice.…”

Section: Comparison With Existing Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of UK sickness certification rates, standardised for age and sex

et al. 2009

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BackgroundThere is growing interest in tackling the perceived 'sick note' culture in the UK. AimThe aim of this paper was to report the rates of sickness certification in a UK population, using sick certification rates as a precursor to addressing fitness for work. MethodElectronic records from all 14 practices included in the Keele GP Research Network were reviewed; all sickness certification records from 2005 were retrieved and corresponding consultation records were examined. Participants were 148 176 patients registered during 2005, including 6398 patients who received at least one sickness certificate during the same year. ResultsThe rate of sickness certification was 101.67 certificates per 1000 person years (95% confidence interval [CI] = 100.13 to 103.21). This rate was significantly higher in women, at 109.76 certificates per 1000 person years (95% CI = 107.550 to 112.02), compared to men who had a rate of 93.68 certificates per 1000 person years (95% CI = 91.59 to 95.78; P<0.001). The rate of sickness certification was greatest for mental health conditions, followed closely by musculoskeletal conditions. ConclusionOn average, one in 10 patients will receive a sickness certificate each year, with the highest rates occurring around 50 years of age, in women. Mental health and musculoskeletal conditions were associated with the highest rates of certification. These results provide important information to underpin the national 'Fit for Work' scheme, by providing targets for intervention and a benchmark against which the impact of public health initiatives to reduce certified sickness absence due to health conditions can be evaluated and monitored.

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Section: Comparison With Existing Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of UK sickness certification rates, standardised for age and sex

et al. 2009

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“…During the last decade, the sickness insurance systems in many Western countries have been subject to frequent changes [24,27] that have in many cases included restrictions in insurance legislation, which has in turn affected the ways that physicians have certified sickness absence [12,28,29]. Englund and co-workers [12] found that changes in rules for issuing sickness certificates did improve the more complete documentation, but that many certificates still lacked information on the type of employment (22%) and the prognosis for regaining previous functional capacity (27%); those finding agree with the present results. Bredkjaer-Rask and associates [25] observed that a majority of physicians using an extended sickness certificate frequently considered the prognosis of the medical disorder to be unclear, and that they did not know how the information on the certificates would be interpreted by the receivers.…”

Section: Implications For Policy-makersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sickness certificates as a basis for decisions regarding entitlement to sickness insurance benefits

Söderberg

Alexanderson

2005

Scand J Public Health

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“…Studies on the practice of sick listing by physicians indicate no change in spite of an administrative reform intended to narrow sicklisting benefits [26]. The changes in our study may thus be a result of a diminishing demand for a sickness absence certificate owing to economic considerations among the pregnant women themselves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%