Impact of Cognitive and Psychological Symptoms on Work Productivity and Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Survivors in Hong Kong

Abstract

Objective/BackgroundEmployed breast cancer survivors (BCS) may experience residual symptoms that can impact their work productivity and quality of life (QoL), but it is unclear whether such associations exist among BCS in Hong Kong. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the symptom burden (cognitive limitation and psychological distress) of employed BCS in HK, and to investigate whether such factors are related to work productivity and QoL.MethodsA cross-sectional study including employed BCS (n = 30), women with musculoskeletal conditions (n = 30), and healthy women (n = 30) was conducted. Participants completed a questionnaire covering their sociodemographics, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Cognitive Symptom Checklist, Work Limitation Questionnaire, and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30.ResultsThe self-perceived cognitive limitations at work of BCS were significantly higher than that of the healthy control group (5.33 vs. 2.60; p < .05). The cognitive limitations in BCS were significantly associated with their QoL (β = —0.320; p = .032). A negative relationship between depression and QoL in BCS was also observed in this study.ConclusionThis exploratory study provides local evidence that BCS experience greater work-task related cognitive limitations and that is related to QoL. Similar to findings in other countries, this provides insight for the consideration of early identification of cognitive problems in this particular patient group. Further studies may be needed to further substantiate such findings and to examine the effectiveness of potential cognitive interventions.

The psychosocial determinants of quality of life in breast cancer survivors: a scoping review

“…65% = Caucasian; 45% = African American.8% = < secondary education; 41% = completed secondary education; 51% > secondary education. 84% reported employment 60% = Mastectomy 27% = Lumpectomy 73% = Chemotherapy 57% = Radiation 36% = Hormone therapy 67 women were diagnosed between 2005 and 2011, 3 were diagnosed between 1981 and 1999 Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) FACT-G EORTC QLQ-BR23 Depression was significantly correlated with QoL Body image, physical attractiveness, and femininity, sociodemographic and clinical variables Cheng A.S.K., 2016 [ 43 ] Cross-sectional China 90 women aged between 18 and 60 years. 30 were breast cancer survivors, 30 had musculoskeletal conditions, and 30 healthy women.…”

“…Two studies found that higher scores for posttraumatic growth were associated with a higher QoL [27,54]. While higher scores on negative affect and cognitive limitations were found to be associated with a lower QoL [43,46]. Work limitations were reported to have no significant impact on QoL [43].…”

“…The ladder is a vertical, self-anchoring scale with 10 rungs. Scaling responses range from 0 (worst possible life) to 10 (best possible life) [59] 1 Kessler, T., 2002 [46] studies [28,29,[43][44][45]56] and EORTC QLQ-BR23 in 3 studies [29,42,44]; with 2 of these studies using both the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 [29,44]. Three studies applied the Quality of Life Index Cancer Version (QLI-CV) [32,39,51].…”

“…For the 3 studies that assessed anxiety, 2 studies reported that higher anxiety was associated with a lower QoL [31,45] while the remaining study found a null association [43]. In 3 individual studies higher confidence, self-efficacy and self-esteem were each found to be associated with higher QoL [13,35,39].…”

“…1 [24] 1 [ 42] 1 [42] Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) 1 [43] 1 [ 73] Becks Depression Inventory 1 [23] 1 [ 44] 1 [44] Depression history 1 [26] Anxiety Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) 2 [43,45] 1 [ 73] Positive and negative affect…”