• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Mental health and behavioural conditions account for nearly one-in-three known fit notes

Jo Best

Senior Member
Messages
1,032
This is interesting as it's unlikely that CFS was ever mapped as ICD-10 G93.3, nor perhaps ME or PVFS.
3. A total of 6,859,576 out of 12,671,880 fit notes analysed between April 2015 and March 2017 were not mapped to ICD-10 medical codes and therefore have no known diagnosis.
 

JohnCB

Immoderate
Messages
351
Location
England
A simple count of incidences of CFS sick-notes might be interesting.

This is interesting as it's unlikely that CFS was ever mapped as ICD-10 G93.3, nor perhaps ME or PVFS.

By the time I had a formal diagnosis, I had long stopped getting sick notes as they used to be known. By that stage I had been interviewed for Incapacity Benefit and the GP didn't have to keep filling them out. My early sick notes described by condition as "general debility". I had TATT written in big letters on the folder for my medical notes. I assume that figures in this report do not include people who have been through the rigours of getting ESA.
 

RogerBlack

Senior Member
Messages
902
By the time I had a formal diagnosis, I had long stopped getting sick notes as they used to be known..

I'm not saying that it is a perfect system.
However, a largish fraction of those who have a CFS diagnosis and then need to either apply for benefit, or are having work issues, will need a sicknote.

This would give a very crude 'incidence' rate - if you estimate benefit on-flow + working + school age population, even if there was no other info.

(incidence in quotes, as it's diagnosis by GP, often)
 

JohnCB

Immoderate
Messages
351
Location
England
I'm not saying that it is a perfect system.
However, a largish fraction of those who have a CFS diagnosis and then need to either apply for benefit, or are having work issues, will need a sicknote.

This would give a very crude 'incidence' rate - if you estimate benefit on-flow + working + school age population, even if there was no other info.

(incidence in quotes, as it's diagnosis by GP, often)

The point of my post is that I did have sick notes but not a diagnosis of ME/CFS. Many people wait a long time for a diagnosis and they may well, like me, have had to progress into the ESA system. It means that many people who get a diagnosis of ME/CFS will never show up in records of sick or fit notes.
 

RogerBlack

Senior Member
Messages
902
The point of my post is that I did have sick notes but not a diagnosis of ME/CFS. Many people wait a long time for a diagnosis and they may well, like me, have had to progress into the ESA system. It means that many people who get a diagnosis of ME/CFS will never show up in records of sick or fit notes.

Sorry, I was unclear - it provides a lower incidence of people that could be diagnosed as CFS using the criteria of GPs that diagnose CFS.
(if that makes sense).
It is both unclear on the low end (missed diagnosis) and on the upper end (misdiagnosis), as well as 'more important' comorbidities.