Return to work after oropharyngeal cancer treatment—Highlighting a growing working‐age population

Abstract

BackgroundTo describe the frequency of patients returning to work after treatment for oropharyngeal cancer and to identify predictors and physical barriers that might interfere with the return to work process.MethodsCross‐sectional study including 295 patients. Data were collected regarding work/sick leave situation at 1 month before diagnosis and 15 months after diagnosis. The situation before diagnosis was retrospectively recalled by the patients. Two subscales and two single items from the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire‐H&N35 were used. Data were analyzed with multivariate logistic regression.ResultsFifteen months after diagnosis, 212 patients (72%) were working. To be working 15 months after diagnosis was associated with working before diagnosis. Swallowing difficulties, problems talking on the telephone, and physical appearance were negatively associated with returning to work.ConclusionsThe large number of individuals returning to work is encouraging for patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer.

Return to work in patients with head and neck cancer: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…There were only 10 studies that had an upper age limit as part of their exclusion criteria for study eligibility. Most studies included patients with varying head and neck cancer subsites, but two included patients with only oral cavity tumors, 14,15 while three studies including only oropharyngeal tumors 16–18 . There was one study by So et al 19 that included only patients with nasopharyngeal tumors.…”

“…(2020) 18 EORTC QLQ-H&N35 Following domains were associated with RTW on univariable analysis: local pain (OR 0.97, p < 0.001), swallowing (OR 0.96, p < 0.001), appearance (OR 0.40, p < 0.001) and trouble talking on the phone (OR 0.29, p < 0.001) later if they were given sufficient time. Future studies investigating RTW in the head and neck cancer population need to consider an upper age limit as part of the inclusion criteria, and exclude patients from the RTW rate if they have retired from work due to reasons unrelated to their cancer treatment, particularly in studies with long follow-up periods.…”

Depression, anxiety, fatigue, and quality of life in a large sample of patients suffering from head and neck cancer in comparison with the general population

“…speaking and swallowing problems. This reduces the possibility of return to work significantly [34] and enormously compromises QoL. So far, it remains unclear if the occupational status protects from depressive symptoms, or alternatively, patients not being depression prone more often return to their job.…”

A systematic review of rehabilitation and exercise recommendations in oncology guidelines

“…A majority of individuals living with and beyond cancer will experience compromised physical and cognitive function due to cancer treatments and side effects. [1][2][3] These functional morbidity negatively impact an individual's participation in social [4][5][6] and vocational roles, [7][8][9] minimize quality of life, 10,11 and can result in reduced survival. 12,13 The negative impact of cancer treatment-related morbidity is identifiable across many different types of cancers, [14][15][16][17] impacting multiple body systems [18][19][20][21][22] and domains of function, [23][24][25][26][27] and spans the trajectory of the individuals' lifespan during and after active medical treatments.…”