Objective: To investigate what factors are associated with physicians' decisions on whether or not to sickness certify the patient at a consultation.
Design: Questionnaire survey sent to physicians in general practice and their patients.
Setting: General practitioners in Orebro county, central Sweden.
Subjects: Sixty-five physicians with up to 10 patients each.
Main outcome measure: Whether a sickness certificate was issued.
Results: Physicians with long experience in family medicine and those working part time issued more sickness certificates when all encounters with patients were considered. When only musculoskeletal problems were studied physicians with long experience or who were trained in social insurance medicine as undergraduates issued more sickness certificates. When only appointments for infections were studied, part-time physicians issued more sickness certificates. No impact of the physicians' sex on sickness certifying was found.
Conclusions: Length of professional experience and physicians' working time appear to influence practices in sickness certifying.