Employment after lung transplantation in Poland – a single center study

Abstract

Objectives: Lung transplantation not only saves a patient's life but also creates the opportunity for becoming more self-reliant and getting back to work. The aim of this single center study was to assess the prospects of employment, as well as its influence on the quality of life and physical activity, of the lung transplant recipients of the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze, Poland. Material and Methods: A retrospective study covered 67 lung transplant recipients of the Silesian Center of Heart Diseases. Only patients with ≥ 6-month follow-up were included. All of the patients gave their written consent to be included in the study before filling out the questionnaire containing questions about employment, income, education and how work affected their quality of life before and after lung transplantation. A physical capability assessment was performed by climbing flights of stairs and by means of a 6-min walk test, and spirometry parameters were also measured. Results: Twenty of the patients included in the study (31.7%) were employed after lung transplantation, 63.2% of whom worked full-time. Profession was changed by 2 patients (14.3%). The patients diagnosed with cystic fibrosis were found to have the highest chance of finding employment after lung transplantation. The statistical analysis revealed that the employed patients were able to cover longer distances during the 6-min walk test (556 m, on average) than the unemployed ones (494 m, on average). Conclusions: One in 3 patients finds employment after lung transplantation. Work improves the quality of life of the majority of lung transplant recipients. The patients who are employed are also in a better physical condition, and they are more self-reliant in comparison to those who remain unemployed. Lung transplant recipients with cystic fibrosis are most likely to find employment, and so are patients with higher education. Int J Occup

A Systematized Review of Professional Employment Following Thoracic Transplantation

“…Posttransplant employment rates for professional employment were differentiated by organ type and ranged from 19.7% to 69.4% for heart, and from 7.4% to 50.8% for lung recipients, respectively (Figure 2). In addition, in 9 of the included studies, 8–10,18,20,23,25,27,32 return to work rates (same or different job) for recipients posttransplant were provided. These rates ranged from 37.1% to 88.3% for heart recipients, 8,9,18,20,23,32 and from 27.0% to 51.6% for lung recipients, 8,10,25,27,32 respectively (Figure 2).…”

“…In addition, in 9 of the included studies, 8–10,18,20,23,25,27,32 return to work rates (same or different job) for recipients posttransplant were provided. These rates ranged from 37.1% to 88.3% for heart recipients, 8,9,18,20,23,32 and from 27.0% to 51.6% for lung recipients, 8,10,25,27,32 respectively (Figure 2).…”

Predictors of long-term employment among patients with cystic fibrosis undergoing lung transplantation

“…Notably, employment rates are known to differ between different underlying diagnoses necessitating transplantation, with the highest employment rates being reported for recipients of kidney transplants [12,14]. Among lung transplant recipients, the typically younger population with cystic fibrosis appear to be the group of individuals with the highest chance of being employed after lung transplantation [15,16]. Previous work using data from the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study focused on predictors of employment status 12 months after solid organ transplantation [12] or kidney transplantation [17], but to the best of our knowledge, long-term data for the growing population of people with adult cystic fibrosis lung disease have not been previously investigated for Switzerland.…”

“…In the logistic and linear regression models, academic education (i.e., a university degree) was associated with a higher chance of paid employment and a higher work percentage after lung transplantation. In individuals with cystic fibrosis, a higher level of education has been shown to be associated with increased odds of being employed pre- [18,19] and post-transplant [15,16]. The remarkable improvement in disease severity and life expectancy in people with cystic fibrosis over recent decades [2] enables many individuals to complete vocational training and to engage in the labour force.…”

“…Previous studies on return to work in lung transplantation recipients with cystic fibrosis have focused on a single time point [11,15]. The main strength of our study is its longitudinal design, covering a period of~20 years, which allowed us to study the impact of time-dependent factors in the analysis.…”