Does the Number of Reasons for Seeking Care and Self-Rated Health Predict Sick Leave during the Following 12 Months? A Prospective, Longitudinal Study in Swedish Primary Health Care

Background: Sick leave has major social and economic consequences for both individuals and society. Primary Health Care (PHC) meets people who seek care before they risk going on sick leave. This study examined the impact of self-perceived health on sick leave within 12 months for workers seeking care in PHC. Methods: The study had a prospective longitudinal design with 271 employed, non-sick-listed patients aged 18–64 years seeking care for physical and/or mental symptoms at PHC. In a logistic regression, an estimation of the odds ratio (OR) for belonging to the group workers with >14 days of sick-leave (W-SL) was made. Results: A high number of reasons when seeking care, with an OR of 1.33 (confidence interval 1.14 to 1.56), and lower self-rated health, with an OR of 1.45 (confidence interval 1.10 to 1.91), were determinants for sick leave at 12 months after adjusting for covariates and confounders. Mental symptoms constituted the main reason for seeking care, followed by musculoskeletal pain, and significant differences in proportions regarding most symptoms were shown between the groups with and without sick-leave >14 days. Conclusion: Health care professionals in PHC need to be aware of the risk of future sick leave at comorbidity and low self-perceived health. Preventive rehabilitation interventions should be offered to improve health and prevent sick leave for this group.