Skip Navigation



Family Practice Advance Access published online on February 3, 2006
Family Practice, doi:10.1093/fampra/cmi110
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/2/246    most recent
cmi110v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shiels, C.
Right arrow Articles by Gabbay, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shiels, C.
Right arrow Articles by Gabbay, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Received March 18, 2005
Accepted December 28, 2005

Article

The influence of GP and patient gender interaction on the duration of certified sickness absence

Christopher Shiels 1 and Mark Gabbay 1 *

1 Mersey Primary Care R&D Consortium, Division of Primary Care, Whelan Building, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Mark Gabbay, E-mail: mbg{at}liverpool.ac.uk


  Abstract

Background. Little research has focused upon how GP and patient gender interact to influence the outcome of consultation. In particular, no UK studies have investigated the effect of gender interaction on the duration of patients' certified sickness.

Objective. To investigate associations between the four GP-patient gender interaction categories and patient risk of intermediate or long-term work incapacity.

Methods. Design: Use of carbonized sickness certificates to collect routine sick note data over a 12-month collection period. Setting: Nine general practices in the Mersey Primary Care R&D Consortium. Subjects: A total of 3906 patients, certified sick by 67 GPs (including 45 GP principals). Main outcome measures: The effect of gender interaction was measured against two outcomes: intermediate (6-28 week) and long-term (28 weeks or over) periods of certified sickness.

Results. After univariate and multivariate analyses, it was discovered that certification of male patients by male GPs was significantly associated with increased prevalence of intermediate (6-28 week) certified sickness outcomes, compared with females certified by females (OR = 1.38 P = 0.009). This result was replicated in the subgroup of patients with mild mental disorder-related sickness absence. However, no association was demonstrated between gender interaction and long-term (≥28 week) outcome, in the total patient group or within diagnostic subcategories.

Conclusion. GP and patient gender appear to have most impact upon sickness certification in the intermediate period. This period is already recognized as the optimum time for interventions to prevent onset of long-term incapacity, particularly in cases where the cause of sickness absence is reversible (as in psychological-related certified sickness absence). Further research is needed (particularly focusing upon attitudes and content of consultations) in order to shed more light on the gender differences found in this study.

Keywords: Sickness certification; primary care; consultation; gender interaction; GP-patient communication.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.