Medically certified sickness absence after varicose vein surgery: self-employed people return to work faster than employees
The length of medically certified sickness absence after varicose vein surgery also depends on the level of the patient's professional position.
How long it takes a patient to return to work after varicose vein excision depends not only on the method of surgery used, but also on the profession of a patient Self-employed people and employees in higher level positions get back on their feet within a shorter period of time.
Attending physicians of the St. Jame’s hospital in Leeds, England, questioned 215 patients 6 weeks after they had undergone varicose vein surgery in the outpatients’ department about the length of their sickness leave covered by a medical certificate (Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg 2006; 31: 553-557). 192 patients out of the 215 people questioned were employees and 23 worked on a self-employed basis.
It took an average of 3 weeks, until the patients returned to work after surgery. Those who got back on their feet the fastest were self-employed people and highly qualified employees, who needed only two weeks for recovery. Whereas less qualified employees and workers required a recovery period of an average of four weeks covered by medical certificates. The length of the recovery period also depended on the type of surgery. More complicated interventions caused significantly longer recovery periods. There was also a difference between men and women, who returned to work an average of 3.5 days earlier. However, this value showed no statistical significance.
The length of the sickness absence will also be influenced by continued wage pay
The authors of the study outlined, that it was known from other types of surgical treatment, that the recovery period of self-employed persons and highly qualified employees was shorter than with workers. These observations not only referred to different professional groups. Another decisive factor was whether a patient was entitled to full sick pay in case of sickness absence. The studies showed that Americans who weren’t entitled to continued wage pay returned to work faster after surgery than the French, who continued to receive pay in the event of illness.
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