Table 2.
Proportions (%) of O/Gs (having sickness certifications at least weekly) reporting frequencies of different situations in sickness certification consultations in 2008 (n = 739) and in 2012 (n = 662), respectively, and p values for differences between 2008 and 2012.
| How often in your clinical work… | Year | At least once a week | A few times per month or year | Never or almost never | Missing information | Between-group comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | p valuea | ||
| …do you find it problematic to handle sickness certifications? | 2008 | 234 (31.7) | 459 (62.1) | 38 (5.1) | 8 (1.1) | 0.367 |
| 2012 | 202 (30.5) | 421 (63.6) | 37 (5.6) | 2 (0.3) | ||
| …do you encounter a patient who wants to be on sick leave for some other reason than work incapacity due to disease or injury? | 2008 | 156 (21.1) | 487 (65.9) | 82 (11.1) | 14 (1.9) | 0.001 |
| 2012 | 106 (16.0) | 450 (68.0) | 101 (15.3) | 5 (0.8) | ||
| …do patients say no, partly or completely, to a sick leave you suggest? | 2008 | 51 (6.9) | 457 (61.8) | 221 (29.9) | 10 (1.4) | 0.001 |
| 2012 | 37 (5.6) | 371 (56.0) | 251 (37.9) | 3 (0.5) | ||
| …do you say no to a patient who wants a sickness certificate? | 2008 | 79 (10.7) | 591 (80.0) | 50 (6.8) | 19 (2.6) | 0.078 |
| 2012 | 62 (9.4) | 550 (83.1) | 47 (7.1) | 3 (0.5) | ||
| …do you experience conflicts with patients about sickness certification? | 2008 | 71 (9.6) | 506 (68.5) | 151 (20.4) | 11 (1.5) | 0.009 |
| 2012 | 57 (8.6) | 425 (64.2) | 175 (26.4) | 5 (0.8) | ||
| …do you worry that a patient will report you to the medical disciplinary board regarding sickness certification? | 2008 | 11 (1.5) | 92 (12.4) | 630 (85.3) | 6 (0.8) | 0.311 |
| 2012 | 5 (0.8) | 78 (11.8) | 576 (87.0) | 3 (0.5) | ||
| …do you feel threatened by a patient in connection with sickness certification? | 2008 | 7 (0.9) | 108 (14.6) | 615 (83.2) | 9 (1.2) | 0.041 |
| 2012 | 2 (0.3) | 73 (11.0) | 577 (87.2) | 10 (1.5) | ||
| …do you issue sickness certificates to patients without seeing them (e.g., by telephone)? | 2008 | 40 (5.4) | 495 (67.0) | 196 (26.5) | 8 (1.1) | 0.612 |
| 2012 | 29 (4.4) | 456 (68.9) | 175 (26.4) | 2 (0.3) | ||
| …do you worry that patients will change physician if you don't issue a sickness certificate? | 2008 | 8 (1.1) | 61 (8.3) | 665 (90.0) | 5 (0.7) | 0.630 |
| 2012 | 7 (1.1) | 48 (7.3) | 601 (90.8) | 6 (0.9) | ||
| …do patients say that they will change physician if you don't issue a sickness certificate? | 2008 | 3 (0.4) | 118 (16.0) | 610 (82.5) | 8 (1.1) | 0.005 |
| 2012 | 2 (0.3) | 74 (11.2) | 582 (87.9) | 4 (0.6) |
aMann–Whitney U test.