Skip to main content

Table 4 Physicians (%) who experienced sickness-certification as very or fairly problematic stratified on clinics.

From: Sickness-certification practice in different clinical settings; a survey of all physicians in a country

How problematic do you generally find it to...

 

...handle sickness- certification of patients?

...to assess the degree which the reduced functional capacity limits a patient's work capacity?

...provide a long-term prognosis about the future work capacity of a sick-listed patient?

...assess the optimum duration and degree of sickness absence?

...decide whether certify a prolongation of a sick-leave period initially certified by another physician?

Clinical setting:

%

ORb (95% CI)

%

ORb (95% CI)

%

ORb (95% CI)

%

ORb (95% CI)

%

ORb (95% CI)

Internal medicinea

33.2

1

57.9

1

58.2

1

54.1

1

53.0

1

Primary health care

60.5

3.30 (2.93-3.72)

81.5

3.51 (3.09-3.98)

78.2

2.80 (2.48-3.17)

70.0

2.15 (1.91-2.42)

70.0

2.17 (1.93-2.43)

Rheumatology

50.5

2.57 (1.87-3.52)

64.3

1.61 (1.16-2.22)

66.3

1.65 (1.19-2.29)

52.8

1.20 (0.88-1.65)

56.9

1.33 (0.97-1.81)

Psychiatry

47.2

1.96 (1.67-2.31)

61.9

1.28 (1.08-1.50)

70.5

1.83 (1.54-2.16)

55.7

1.16 (0.98-1.36)

47.5

0.83 (0.71-0.97)

Neurology

44.0

1.88 (1.41-2.51)

61.1

1.35 (1.01-1.81)

63.3

1.42 (1.06-1.90)

55.1

1.29 (0.96-1.72)

49.6

0.97 (0.73-1.28)

Pain management

38.1

1.66 (0.98-2.82)

58.1

1.35 (0.80-2.27)

63.5

1.56 (0.92-2.64)

45.2

0.99 (0.59-1.66)

44.4

0.86 (0.51-1.43)

Orthopaedic

42.7

1.61 (1.36-1.92)

61.0

1.24 (1.04-1.47)

61.0

1.20 (1.02-1.43)

52.6

1.04 (0.87-1.23)

56.5

1.23 (1.04-1.45)

Occupational health

28.6

1.14 (0.89-1.45)

41.6

0.72 (0.58-0.90)

43.1

0.70 (0.56-0.88)

36.0

0.71 (0.57-0.90)

38.9

0.70 (0.56-0.88)

Dermatology

32.3

1.13 (0.81-1.58)

44.6

0.68 (0.50-0.93)

52.2

0.89 (0.65-1.21)

39.8

0.67 (0.49-0.92)

43.8

0.76 (0.56-1.04)

Rehabilitation

30.0

1.05 (0.73-1.50)

45.6

0.73 (0.52-1.01)

58.8

1.19 (0.85-1.66)

41.5

0.75 (0.53-1.05)

34.0

0.51 (0.36-0.72)

Gynaecology

30.5

1.02 (0.85-1.22)

50.9

0.86 (0.73-1.02)

28.0

0.30 (0.25-0.36)

45.4

0.83 (0.70-0.98)

46.6

0.85 (0.72-1.01)

Administration

26.2

0.94 (0.53-1.66)

56.9

1.27 (0.76-2.11)

46.2

0.76 (0.46-1.25)

41.5

0.84 (0.50-1.40)

38.5

0.66 (0.40-1.11)

Geriatrics

24.3

0.78 (0.49-1.24)

40.0

0.58 (0.39-0.88)

44.2

0.66 (0.44-0.99)

38.8

0.67 (0.44-1.02)

28.8

0.40 (0.26-0.62)

Infectious diseases

24.8

0.67 (0.51-0.89)

55.0

0.92 (0.71-1.18)

51.6

0.78 (0.61-1.00)

51.3

0.93 (0.72-1.19)

51.3

0.96 (0.75-1.23)

Ophthalmology

20.1

0.60 (0.45-0.81)

38.3

0.53 (0.42-0.68)

34.6

0.43 (0.34-0.56)

33.1

0.51 (0.39-0.66)

29.0

0.40 (0.31-0.52)

Child and adolescent

19.9

0.59 (0.44-0.79)

25.6

0.29 (0.22-0.37)

26.6

0.29 (0.22-0.38)

28.5

0.40 (0.31-0.52)

26.8

0.36 (0.28-0.47)

Surgery

21.8

0.58 (0.49-0.68)

44.4

0.60 (0.51-0.69)

41.5

0.52 (0.45-0.60)

40.0

0.58 (0.50-0.67)

40.8

0.63 (0.54-0.73)

Ear, nose, and throat

17.6

0.50 (0.38-0.66)

45.7

0.72 (0.58-0.90)

44.3

0.65 (0.52-0.81)

38.9

0.65 (0.52-0.82)

41.5

0.71 (0.57-0.89)

Oncology

14.7

0.35 (0.25-0.49)

38.2

0.46 (0.35-0.59)

50.6

0.76 (0.60-0.97)

31.2

0.38 (0.29-0.50)

27.0

0.33 (0.25-0.43)

Other

28.0

0.93 (0.76-1.13)

41.1

0.58 (0.48-0.70)

41.3

0.57 (0.47-0.69)

38.3

0.62 (0.51-0.75)

37.9

0.61 (0.51-0.74)

  1. a reference group (n = 1,874), b adjusted for rate of board certified specialists.
  2. Bold figures indicates OR that is significantly greater or smaller than 1.