Sick-listing habits among general practitioners in a Swedish county

Abstract

Objective: To describe sick-listing habits in general practice, how common it is and for how long and for what diagnoses it is granted.

Design: Medical audit study.

Setting: Primary health care.

Subjects: 53 general practitioners (GPs) registering all cases during a 2-week period when sick-listing was considered.

Main outcome measures: Percentage of GP consultations that involved sick-listing, number of days of certified sick-leave, percentage of partial sick-listing, GP sex differences.

Results: 9% of all consultations included a consideration about sick-listing, and in only 6% of these instances was a certificate not issued. The median length of the certified sickness period was 14 days. Musculoskeletal problems were by far the most common diagnosis. Female patients were more often partially sick-listed than males. Female GPs sick-listed a larger proportion of their patients than male GPs. Risk factors for long certification periods were in fact associated with long certification periods. Even in cases where the GP would not recommend sick-listing a certificate was issued in 87%.

Conclusions: Patients appear to have a strong influence on sick-listing practice, and there are important sex differences among GPs in this practice.