Psychosocial factors associated with workability after surgery in cancer survivors: An explorative study

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the work ability and its associated factors in patients with glioma (II, III) and breast cancer after 6 (T0) and 12 (T1) months from surgery. A total of 99 patients were evaluated with self-reported questionnaires at T0 and T1. Correlation and Mann–Whitney tests were used to investigate the association between work ability and sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors. The Wilcoxon test was used to investigate the longitudinal change in work ability. Our sample showed a decrease in work ability level between T0 and T1. Work ability was associated with emotional distress, disability, resilience, and social support in glioma III patients at T0, and with fatigue, disability, and clinical treatments in patients with breast cancer at T0 and T1. Work ability levels decreased in patients with glioma and breast cancer and were associated with different psychosocial factors after surgery. Their investigation is suggested to facilitate the return to work.

The mediating role of depressive, anxiety, and physical symptoms on work ability index in employed women with breast cancer: a prospective study from Croatia

“…Within the first year after diagnosis, patients in this study had a moderate WAI score, which aligns with previous research ( 8 , 13 - 15 ) and a low level of physical symptoms, which may be explained by the significant presence (94%) of early-stage cancer (IA and IIA) in our sample ( Table 1 ). Additionally, the observed mean scores for depressive and anxiety symptoms closely matched the pooled mean scores for anxiety and depression among breast cancer patients measured by the STAI and BDI in recent meta-analyses ( 4 , 5 ).…”

“…The increasing incidence of breast cancer patients among working-age women has highlighted the importance of workforce reintegration, making it a public health challenge ( 6 ). The work ability concept, introduced in 1981 ( 7 ), is defined as a balance between job demands, work environments, and an individual’s physical and mental resources ( 8 ). Work ability is a strong predictor of return to work ( 9 ) and a critical factor for successful workplace reintegration in the cancer population ( 10 , 11 ).…”

“…Previous studies have mostly reported a negative association between depressive symptoms and work ability, whereas the association between anxiety symptoms and work ability was predominantly found to be non-significant ( 23 ). Nonetheless, there are studies that did not observe the association between depressive symptoms and work ability ( 8 ) and, conversely, studies that did observe the association between anxiety symptoms and work ability ( 22 , 24 ). As the issue has so far been addressed mostly through cross-sectional surveys, it is important to provide longitudinal data to enhance understanding of the relationship between the WAI and depressive and anxiety symptoms in breast cancer patients.…”