Length of sick leave – Why not ask the sick-listed? Sick-listed individuals predict their length of sick leave more accurately than professionals

Abstract

Background: The knowledge of factors accurately predicting the long lasting sick leaves is sparse, but information on medical condition is believed to be necessary to identify persons at risk. Based on the current practice, with identifying sick-listed individuals at risk of long-lasting sick leaves, the objectives of this study were to inquire the diagnostic accuracy of length of sick leaves predicted in the Norwegian National Insurance Offices, and to compare their predictions with the selfpredictions of the sick-listed.

Presenteeism in the workplace: A review and research agenda

“…A theory of presenteeism should recognize the subjectivity of health Theory in this domain must recognize the essential subjectivity of people's evaluation of their own health status (Fleten, Johnsen, & Førde, 2004;Kaplan & Baron-Epel, 2003) and accommodate well-established individual differences in the propensity for self-disclosure of chronic illness at work (Munir, Leka, & Griffeths, 2005), perceptions of how work affects health (Ettner & Grzywacz, 2001), and the tendency to adopt a sick role (Levine & Kozloff, 1978). As signaled in Figure 1, particularly useful would be applications of attribution theory that would predict how self-conceptions of health get translated into absenteeism and presenteeism and how others in the workplace react to these work behaviors.…”

Assessing fitness for work: GPs judgment making

“…We restricted the vignettes to male patients to minimize the number of vignette versions; future research can delineate any gender issues that could arise. Patients ' gender is an important variable in predicting sickness absence and women are shown to have higher rates of certifi cation compared to men (15,35,36). Possible explanation is the use of sickness certifi cation for extenuating circumstances such as caring for sick children (7,37,38).…”

Correlating the Anatomical Site of Injury and Work-Related Factors With Sick Leave Duration Following Minor Musculoskeletal Injuries

“…Clinicians usually take into account the functional disability based on the site and severity of the injury and the length of treatment and rehabilitation period. 3,10 As is clearly demonstrated by this study as well as many previous studied, factors associated with long sick leaves can be non-injury related and hence basing sick leave predictions solely on the injury alone can be misleading because of the so many confounding factors. 1,14 This explains the inaccuracies and discrepancies in clinicians' predictions of sick leave duration, even for the same medical condition, 9 and reflects the need to consider and address other nonmedical factors when estimating sick leave durations and rehabilitation of patients.…”

“…8,9 Therefore, basing predictions of sick leave durations solely on the nature of the disease or injury is not adequate and perhaps this is also the reason why there is a poor correlation between doctors' and patients' predictions of sick leave durations. 10 Back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders are common 11,12 and are some of the main causes of sick leaves. 7,11,[13][14][15][16][17] However, to our knowledge, only very few studies 14 have focused on sick leaves following acute musculoskeletal injuries in patients.…”