[Patients who are in danger of being dropped from the labour-market. A study from family practice].

During one week, 60 general practitioners in different parts of Norway registered those of their patients whom they believed were in danger of falling out of the labour market. Patients who risked losing their job completely constituted 12% (95% confidence interval 10-14%) of all patients aged 16-66 years. The fear of possible permanent lack of employment arose in connection with plans for a disability pension in 39% of the patients, vocational rehabilitation in 18%, current unemployment in 18% and long-term sickness certification in 16%. The doctors considered a disability pension in the case of only a quarter of the patients, while more patients, one third, had plans to apply for one. The doctors did not seem to act as promoters of early retirement. On the contrary, they often recommended vocational rehabilitation, even though earlier studies have shown that doctors are generally pessimistic about the chances of success in present day Norway. If the Government wants the doctors' help in promoting its policy of employment rather than social security benefit it will have to take practical steps to support their efforts to encourage vocational rehabilitation.