Table III.

Proportions of GPs (n = 2516) who, for different reasons and at least once a month, issued sick notes for unnecessarily long periods by gender and age groups.¹

How often do you certify unnecessarily long sick-leave periods due to…	Women (n = 1135)	Men (n = 1381)	32–54 years (n = 1218)	55–64 years (n = 1298)
… waiting times for investigation by health care services?	63.9	66.8*	66.7	64.3
… waiting times for treatment?	61.5	66.3*	63.5	64.7
… waiting times for investigation by the social insurance office (SIO)?	51.0	52.4	52.4	51.1
… lack of access to cognitive behavioural therapy?	34.0	29.1*	34.1	28.5*
… waiting times for investigation by the unemployment office?	31.6	30.0	30.0	31.5
… waiting for measures to be taken by an employer?	29.4	29.5	29.7	29.3
… lack of other adequate treatment and/or care provider?	28.6	25.9*	28.0	26.2
… lack of next visit times?	26.7	26.0	27.8	24.9
… that the patient does not follow recommendations for treatment and rehabilitation?	23.0	21.9	26.1	18.8*
… you want to avoid conflicts with the patient?	9.2	14.2*	13.5	10.4*
… it takes too long to explain alternatives to being on sick leave?	8.8	14.5*	11.8	12.1
… influence of other members of your healthcare team?	7.3	7.3	8.4	6.3*

Notes: ¹Significant differences are shown in bold. *p < 0.05.