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Use and usefulness of guidelines for sickness certification: results from a national survey of all general practitioners in Sweden

Objectives Diagnoses-specific sickness certification guidelines were recently introduced in Sweden. The aim of this study was to investigate to which extent general practitioners (GPs) used these guidelines and how useful they found them, 1 year after introduction. Design A cross-sectional questionnaire study. A comprehensive questionnaire about sickness certification practices in 2008 was sent to all physicians living and working in Sweden (n=36 898, response rate 60.6%). In all, 19.7% (n=4394) of the responders worked as GPs. Setting Primary healthcare in all Sweden. Participants The participating GPs who had consultations concerning sickness certification at least a few times a year (n=4278, 97%). Main outcome measures Descriptive statistics and prevalence ratios for the 11 questionnaire items about the use and usefulness of the sickness certification guidelines. Results A majority (76.2%) of the GPs reported that they used the guidelines. In addition, 65.4% and 43.5% of those GPs reported that the guidelines had facilitated their contacts with patients and social insurance officers, respectively. The guidelines also helped nearly one-third (31.5%) of the GPs to develop their competence and improve the quality of their management of sickness certification consultations (33.5%). About half experienced some problems when using the guidelines and 43.7% wanted better competence in using them. A larger proportion of non-specialists and of GPs with fewer sickness certification consultations had benefitted from the guidelines. Conclusions The national sickness certification guidelines implemented in Sweden were widely used by GPs already a year after introduction. Also, the GPs consider the guidelines useful in several respects, for example, in patient contacts and for competence development.

Self-rated health, symptoms of depression and general symptoms at 3 and 12 months after a first-ever stroke: a municipality-based study in Sweden

BackgroundSelf-rated health is an important indicator of quality of life as well as a good predictor of future health. The purpose of the study was to follow up the self-rated health and the prevalence of symptoms of depression and general symptoms in a population of first-ever stroke patients 3 and 12 months after stroke.MethodsAll patients surviving their first-ever stroke and residing in Nacka municipality in Stockholm County Council were included using a multiple overlapping search strategy during an 18-month period (n = 187). Our study group comprised the 145 patients who survived the first 3 months after stroke. Three and 12 months after their stroke, the patients were assessed regarding self-rated health and general symptoms using parts of the Göteborg Quality of Life Instrument (GQLI), and regarding symptoms of depression using the Montgomery Asberg Depression Scale (MADRS-S).ResultsSelf-rated health was rated as very good or rather good by 62% at 3 months after stroke and by 78% at 12 months after stroke. More than half of the patients suffered from symptoms of depression, with no significant improvement at 12 months. The most common general symptoms at 3 months after stroke were fatigue, sadness, pain in the legs, dizziness and irritability. Fatigue and sadness were still common at 12 months. Twelve months after stroke the prevalences of crying easily, irritability, impaired concentration, nausea and loss of weight were significantly lower.ConclusionThe majority of patients rated their health as rather good or very good at 3 and 12 months after stroke. However, the majority suffered from fatigue and from symptoms of depression after both 3 and 12 months. In continued care of stroke survivors, it is important to consider the fact that many patients who rate their health as good may nevertheless have symptoms of depression, and some of them may benefit from anti-depressive treatment.

Frequency and severity of problems that general practitioners experience regarding sickness certification

Objective. Tasks involved in sickness certification constitute potential problems for physicians. The objective in this study was to obtain more detailed knowledge about the problems that general practitioners (GPs) experience in sickness certification cases, specifically regarding reasons for issuing unnecessarily long sick-leave periods. Design. A cross-sectional national questionnaire study. Setting. Primary health care in Sweden. Subjects. The 2516 general practitioners (GPs), below 65 years of age, who had consultations involving sickness certification every week. This makes it the by far largest such study worldwide. The response rate among GPs was 59.9%. Results. Once a week, half of the GPs (54.5%) found it problematic to handle sickness certification, and one-fourth (25.9%) had a patient who wanted to be sickness absent for some reason other than medical work incapacity. Issues rated as problematic by many GPs concerned assessing work capacity, prognosticating the duration of incapacity, handling situations in which the GP and the patient had different opinions on the need for sick leave, and managing the two roles as physician for the patient and medical expert in writing certificates for other authorities. Main reasons for certifying unnecessarily long sick-leave periods were long waiting times in health care and in other organizations, and younger and male GPs more often reported doing this to avoid conflicts with the patient. Conclusion. A majority of the GPs found sickness certification problematic. Most problems were related to professional competence in insurance medicine. Better possibilities to develop, maintain, and practise such professionalism are warranted.

Heart failure diagnosis in primary health care: clinical characteristics of problematic patients. A clinical judgement analysis study

BackgroundEarly detection of chronic heart failure has become increasingly important since the introduction of effective treatment. However, clinical diagnosis of heart failure is known to be difficult, especially in mild cases or early in the course of the disease. The purpose of this study is to analyse how patient characteristics contribute to difficulties in diagnosing systolic heart failure.MethodsDesign: A Clinical Judgement Analysis study of 40 case vignettes based on authentic patients, including relevant clinical data except echocardiography. Setting: Primary health care and two cardiology outpatient clinics in Stockholm. Subjects: 70 participants with different types of clinical experience; 27 specialists in general practice, 22 cardiologists, and 21 medical students. Main outcome measures: The assessed probability of heart failure for each case vignette, and the disagreement between the participants. The number of clinical variables (cues) indicative of heart failure in the case vignettes.ResultsThe ten case vignettes with the least diverging assessments more often had increased relative cardiac volume and atrial fibrillation. No further specific clinical patterns could be found in subgroups of the case vignettes. The ten case vignettes with the most diverging assessments were those with an intermediate number of clinical variables. The case vignettes with the least diverging assessments more often represented patients with cardiac enlargement and atrial fibrillation.ConclusionDiagnosing mild heart failure is difficult, as these patients are not easy to characterise. In our study, a larger number of positive cues resulted in more diagnostic conformity among the participants, and the most important information was cardiac enlargement. The importance of more objective diagnostic methods in diagnosing suspected cases of heart failure should be emphasised.

GPs' decisions on drug treatment for patients with high cholesterol values: a think-aloud study.

BackgroundThe purpose was to examine how General Practitioners (GPs) use clinical information and rules from guidelines in their decisions on drug treatment for high cholesterol values.MethodsTwenty GPs were presented with six case vignettes and were instructed to think aloud while successively more information about a case was presented, and finally to decide if a drug should be prescribed or not. The statements were coded for the clinical information to which they referred and for favouring or not favouring prescription.ResultsThe evaluation of clinical information was compatible with decision-making as a search for reasons or arguments. Lifestyle-related information like smoking and overweight seemed to be evaluated from different perspectives. A patients smoking favoured treatment for some GPs and disfavoured treatment for others.ConclusionsThe method promised to be useful for understanding why doctors differ in their decisions on the same patient descriptions and why rules from the guidelines are not followed strictly.

Quality of sickness certification in primary health care: a retrospective database study

BackgroundIn the period 2004–2009, national and regional initiatives were developed in Sweden to improve the quality of sickness certificates. Parameters for assessing the quality of sickness certificates in primary health care have been proposed. The aim of this study was to measure the quality of sickness certification in primary health care by means of assessing sickness certificates issued between 2004 and 2009 in Stockholm.MethodsThis was a retrospective study using data retrieved from sickness certificates contained in the electronic patient records of 21 primary health care centres in Stockholm County covering six consecutive years. A total number of 236 441 certificates were used in the current study. Seven quality parameters were chosen as outcome measures. Descriptive statistics and regression models with time, sex and age group as explanatory variables were used.ResultsDuring the study period, the quality of the sickness certification practice improved as the number of days on first certification decreased and the proportion of duly completely and acceptable certificates increased. Assessment of need for vocational rehabilitation and giving a prognosis for return to work were not significantly improved during the same period. Time was the most influential variable.ConclusionsThe quality of sickness certification practice improved for most of the parameters, although additional efforts to improve the quality of sickness certificates are needed. Measures, such as reminders, compulsory certificate fields and structured guidance, could be useful tools to achieve this objective.

Primary Prevention of First-Ever Stroke in Primary Health Care: A Clinical Practice Study Based on Medical Register Data in Sweden

Background. The aim of this study was to investigate whether established risk factors for stroke in patients admitted to health care for first-ever stroke had been detected and treated in primary health care. Methods. In a retrospective study in Nacka municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, with about 70 000 inhabitants, we included all men and women admitted to health care due to first-ever stroke between October 1999 and March 2001. Data on 187 such patients, with a mean age of 75 years, were obtained from medical registers. Main outcome measures were detection and treatment of risk factors for stroke including hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, smoking, alcohol abuse, and overweight/obesity. Results. In a majority of patients seen in primary health care with hypertension and diabetes, those risk factors were detected and treated (75.6% and 75.0%, resp.). Fewer patients with atrial fibrillation received treatment (60.9%). Treatment of lifestyle factors was difficult to assess because of lack of data in the medical records. Conclusions. Primary prevention of stroke in primary health care needs to be improved, especially when atrial fibrillation and lifestyle-related risk factors are present. Health policies need to target not only the public, but also general practitioners and other health care professionals.

General practitioners’ coronary risk assessments and lipid-lowering treatment decisions in primary prevention : Comparison between two European areas with different cardiovascular risk levels

Aim: To investigate whether general practitioners (GPs) in countries with different levels of cardiovascular risk would make different risk estimates and choices about lipid-lowering treatment when ...

Statistical and Psychological Models of Doctorsâ Judgments of HeartPatients

Using participant data from the medical domain, the robustness of logistic regression (LR) with different cue inclusion levels and two fast and frugal (F&F) models in terms of predictive accuracy and frugality were tested. Two data sets based on judgments of verbally described patients were used: Heart failure (66 analysts), and Hyperlipidemia (38 analysts). In both data sets, when the models were cross-validated, there was a significant decrease in predictive accuracy for all models, especially when all cues were used in LR. The other models had about equal predictive accuracy, also when comparisons were made with actual diagnoses, with a slight advantage for LR in the Heart failure study. LR using the 5% inclusion level was more frugal than F&F. These results emphasize the importance of using cross-validation and of choosing the proper significance levels for cue inclusion and when comparing different judgment models in medical decision making and other fields.