Marriage, employment, and health insurance in adult survivors of childhood cancer

Abstract

Most respondents were survivors of hematologic malignancies (71%), white (91%), and working full-time (62%); 43% were married. Compared with age- and sex-adjusted national averages, only survivors of hematologic malignancies who received radiation were significantly less likely to be married (44 vs. 52%). Full-time employment among survivors was lower than national norms, except among survivors of hematologic malignancies who had not received radiation therapy. The rates of coverage of health insurance, especially public insurance, were higher in all diagnostic groups than in the general population. While difficulty obtaining health care was rarely reported, current unemployment and a lack of insurance were associated with difficulty in obtaining health care (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Subgroups of cancer survivors do experience long-term differences in functional outcomes that should be addressed early. Survivors who are unmarried, unemployed, and uninsured experience difficulty accessing health care needed to address long-term health concerns.

Employment in French young adult survivors of childhood leukemia: an LEA study (for Leucemies de l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent—childhood and adolescent leukemia)

“…However, the authors noted a higher proportion of students among the survivors. A last study found that the full-time employment of childhood cancer survivors was lower than national norms (US), except among survivors of hematologic malignancies who had not received radiation therapy [18]. A part of explanation of our result could be that these young adults who survived childhood AL might be particularly motivated to work and accept a job, even unstable, when their health allows [42].…”

“…Dieluweit et al reported a higher proportion of adolescent cancer survivors who were employed compared to an age-matched sample from the general population [20]. Nevertheless, most of the published studies found the employment rate to be lower among childhood cancer survivors compared with the controls [6,13,[15][16][17][18]29]. However, some of these studies include survivors of childhood brain and central nervous system cancers, and the difference in employment rate with the controls disappears when those types of cancers are excluded [24,30].…”

“…Concerning occupational outcomes, most of the studies conducted have reported higher rates of unemployment among childhood cancer survivors than among their siblings or the population as a whole [4,6,[13][14][15][16][17][18]. Factors found to be associated with unemployment risk in the survivor population are both demographic (current age, female gender, interrupted schooling, lower education) [16,17,19,20] and cancerrelated (younger age at diagnosis, treatment with cranial irradiation, somatic late effects) [13,14,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. However, when childhood cancer survivors obtain employment, the literature on their occupational achievements is rather sparse.…”

Vocational services associated with competitive employment in 18–25 year old cancer survivors

“…Young adults with a history of cancer experience problems obtaining employment [1][2][3]. A recent meta-analysis revealed that adult survivors of childhood cancer are twice as likely to be unemployed when compared to their healthy controls [4].…”

Education in Moroccan Long-Term Childhood Cancer Survivors

“…Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are associated with late health effects that can affect survivors' physical, psychosocial and cognitive functioning [3][4][5][6]. Many survivors report education difficulties, and hence unemployment, and lower incomes in comparison with siblings populations [7][8][9][10][11]. The impact of childhood Moroccan childhood cancer survivors on occupational achievement, however, has not been reported yet to our knowledge.…”