Scandinavian journal of primary health care
-
Scand J Prim Health Care · Mar 2022
Meta AnalysisInterventions regarding physicians' sickness certification practice - a systematic literature review with meta-analyses.
A variety of interventions aiming to influence physicians' sickness certification practice have been conducted, most are, however, not evaluated scientifically. The aim of this systematic literature review was to obtain updated knowledge about interventions regarding physicians' sickness certification practice and to summarize their possible effects, in terms of sickness absence (SA) or return to work (RTW) among patients. ⋯ The individual studies showed that physicians' sickness certification practice might be influenced by interventions in both the intended and non-intended direction, however, no statistically significant effect was indicated by the meta-analysis. The included studies varied considerably concerning intervention content and effect measures.KEY POINTSThe knowledge is very limited regarding the content of interventions directed to physician's sickness certification practiceThe identified interventions included some type of training of physicians, and some of them also included IT-support for physiciansThere was a great heterogeneity among the interventions concerning effect measures used regarding return to work among patientsThe individual studies showed that physicians' sickness certification practice might be influenced by interventions in both intended and non-intended directions, however, the overall meta-analysis did not indicate an effect.