Negative encounters with social insurance officers - experiences of women and men on long-term sick leave

This study aimed to gain knowledge about long-term sickness absentees' experiences of negative encounters with social insurance officers (SIOs). A questionnaire about encounters with SIOs and healthcare professionals was sent to 10,000 long-term sickness absentees in Sweden (response rate 58 per cent, n = 5,802). Twenty per cent of the respondents had experienced negative encounters with SIOs compared with 27 per cent with healthcare professionals. Response patterns regarding the 23 different types of negative encounters with SIOs were similar for women and men. Slightly more women [odds ratio (OR) 1.2-1.5] agreed to most of the items. When adjusting for age, country of birth, education and self-rated health gender differences, only two items remained. Foreign-born had higher ORs even after adjustments. Experiencing negative encounters of different types with SIOs can hardly contribute to empowerment and return to work. Interventions, preferably in terms of randomised controlled studies, are warranted to improve the situation.