The role of Norwegian GPs in sickness absence and sickness certification
There is at present a lack of scientific data on the actual role of the GPs in initiating and prolonging sickness absence, variations in use of part-time sickness certification etc. in Norway.
Objectives
The main research question is how to distinguish between GP-factors and population/patient factors in sickness certification at various stages of sickness absence. Other more specific research questions are the causes of the drop in sickness absence between 2003 and 2004 and variations in use of graded sickness certification. PhD student: Lee Winde.
Background
The study will be based on the following data sets: The GP database which has information on the GPs and their patient lists, activity data from the bills from GPs to the Social Insurance Services (NAV) and the FD-trygd database (which includes socio-demographic data and data on the use of social insurance, including all spells of certified sickness absence).
The Study is part of a large, multidisciplinary study at the University of Bergen called “Health, Work and Society”.
Financing
The Norwegian Research Council
Cooperation
University of Bergen
Karolinska Institutet
Start - Finish
2009 - 2013