The GPs in the study group, stratified by sex, age and level of medical education
| GPs with consultations involving consideration of sickness certification at least a few times a year | Frequency of consultations involving consideration of sickness certification* | Frequency of use of the new national guidelines† ‡ | |||||||
| >5 Times a week | 1–5 Times a week | Less than once a week | >5 Times a week | 1–5 Times a week | About once a month | A few times per year | Never or almost never | ||
| n=1819 | n=2234 | n=225 | n=142 | n=765 | n=1444 | n=831 | n=989 | ||
| n (%) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | |
| All GPs | 4278 (100.0) | 42.5 (41.0 to 44.0) | 52.2 (50.7 to 53.7) | 5.3 (4.6 to 5.9) | 3.4 (2.9 to 4.0) | 18.3 (17.2 to 19.5) | 34.6 (33.2 to 36.1) | 19.9 (18.7 to 21.1) | 23.7 (22.4 to 25.0) |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Women | 2135 (49.9) | 39.3 (37.2 to 41.4) | 55.0 (52.9 to 57.1) | 5.7 (4.7 to 6.7) | 3.7 (2.9 to 4.5) | 19.3 (17.6 to 21.0) | 36.6 (34.5 to 38.6) | 20.1 (18.4 to 21.8) | 20.3 (18.6 to 22.0) |
| Men | 2143 (50.1) | 45.7 (43.6 to 47.8) | 49.5 (47.3 to 51.6) | 4.8 (3.9 to 5.7) | 3.1 (2.4 to 3.8) | 17.4 (15.8 to 19.0) | 32.7 (30.7 to 34.7) | 19.7 (18.0 to 21.4) | 27.1 (25.2 to 29.0) |
| Age groups (years) | |||||||||
| 24–44 | 1607 (37.6) | 43.8 (41.4 to 46.2) | 52.3 (49.8 to 54.7) | 3.9 (3.0 to 4.9) | 4.8 (3.7 to 5.9) | 22.1 (20.0 to 24.1) | 35.5 (33.2 to 37.9) | 16.8 (15.0 to 18.7) | 20.7 (18.7 to 22.8) |
| 45–64 | 2491 (58.2) | 42.0 (40.1 to 44.0) | 52.5 (50.5 to 54.5) | 5.5 (4.6 to 6.4) | 2.6 (2.0 to 3.2) | 16.6 (15.2 to 18.1) | 34.9 (33.0 to 36.8) | 21.7 (20.0 to 23.3) | 24.2 (22.5 to 25.9) |
| 65–84 | 180 (4.2) | 37.8 (30.6 to 44.9) | 47.8 (40.4 to 55.1) | 14.4 (9.3 to 19.6) | 2.3 (0.0 to 4.5) | 8.6 (4.4 to 12.8) | 23.0 (16.7 to 29.3) | 23.0 (16.7 to 29.3) | 43.1 (35.7 to 50.5) |
| Educational level | |||||||||
| Specialist | 2964 (69.3) | 43.3 (41.5 to 45.1) | 51.6 (49.8 to 53.4) | 5.2 (4.4 to 6.0) | 2.5 (1.9 to 3.0) | 15.7 (14.4 to 17.1) | 34.9 (33.2 to 36.7) | 21.6 (20.1 to 23.1) | 25.3 (23.7 to 26.9) |
| In resident training | 843 (19.7) | 43.9 (40.5 to 47.2) | 50.46 (47.0 to 53.8) | 5.7 (4.1 to 7.3) | 5.8 (4.2 to 7.4) | 21.7 (18.9 to 24.5) | 35.6 (32.3 to 38.9) | 17.9 (15.2 to 20.5) | 19.0 (16.3 to 21.7) |
| Registered physician | 206 (4.8) | 49.5 (42.6 to 56.4) | 44.7 (37.8 to 51.5) | 5.8 (2.6 to 9.1) | 9.5 (5.4 to 13.7) | 22.6 (16.8 to 28.5) | 32.7 (26.1 to 39.2) | 11.1 (6.7 to 15.4) | 24.1 (18.1 to 30.1) |
| Medical degree | 265 (6.2) | 24.2 (19.0 to 29.3) | 71.3 (65.8 to 76.8) | 4.5 (2.0 to 7.0) | 1.6 (0.0 to 3.1) | 33.9 (28.0 to 39.7) | 29.6 (24.0 to 35.2) | 14.4 (10.1 to 18.7) | 20.6 (15.6 to 25.6) |
| Frequency of GPs' consultations involving sickness certification* | |||||||||
| >5 Times a week | 1819 (42.5) | – | – | – | 6.0 (4.9 to 7.1) | 20.7 (18.8 to 22.6) | 33.0 (30.8 to 35.1) | 15.7 (14.0 to 17.4) | 24.7 (22.7 to 26.7) |
| 1–5 Times a week | 2234 (52.5) | – | – | – | 1.5 (1.0 to 2.0) | 17.8 (16.2 to 19.4) | 36.1 (34.0 to 38.1) | 22.3 (20.5 to 24.0) | 22.4 (20.6 to 24.1) |
| <1 Time a week | 225 (5.3) | – | – | – | 1.0 (−0.4 to 2.3) | 4.3 (1.5 to 7.0) | 33.8 (27.4 to 40.3) | 31.4 (25.1 to 37.8) | 29.5 (23.3 to 35.7) |
Data represent proportions of GPs (per cent and 95% CI) regarding the frequency of their use of the guidelines and consultations involving consideration of sickness certification.
↵* In all tables, the response options ‘>20 times a week’ and ‘6–20 times a week’ were combined to ‘>5 times a week’ and ‘about once a month’ and ‘a few times a year’ were combined to ‘less than once a week’.
↵† The response options ‘>10 times a week’ and ‘6–10 times a week’ were combined to ‘>5 times a week’.
↵‡ 107 (2.5%) GPs did not respond.
GPs, general practitioners.