Return to work in prostate cancer survivors – findings from a prospective study on occupational reintegration following a cancer rehabilitation program

Abstract

BackgroundThis prospective multicentre-study aimed to analyze return to work (RTW) among prostate cancer survivors 12 months after having attended a cancer rehabilitation program and to identify risk factors for no and late RTW.MethodsSeven hundred eleven employed prostate cancer survivors treated with radical prostatectomy completed validated self-rating questionnaires at the beginning, the end, and 12 months post rehabilitation. Disease-related data was obtained from physicians and medical records. Work status and time until RTW were assessed at 12-months follow-up. Data were analyzed by univariate analyses (t-tests, chi-square-tests) and multivariate logistic regression models (OR with 95% CI).ResultsThe RTW rate at 12-months follow-up was 87% and the median time until RTW was 56 days. Univariate analyses revealed significant group differences in baseline personal characteristics and health status, psychosocial well-being and work-related factors between survivors who had vs. had not returned to work. Patients’ perceptions of not being able to work (OR 3.671) and feeling incapable to return to the former job (OR 3.162) were the strongest predictors for not having returned to work at 12-months follow-up. Being diagnosed with UICC tumor stage III (OR 2.946) and patients’ perceptions of not being able to work (OR 4.502) were the strongest predictors for late RTW (≥ 8 weeks).ConclusionsA high proportion of prostate cancer survivors return to work after a cancer rehabilitation program. However, results indicate the necessity to early identify survivors with low RTW motivation and unfavorable work-related perceptions who may benefit from intensified occupational support during cancer rehabilitation.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4614-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Return to work after cancer. A multi-regional population-based study from Germany

“…This will allow a better understanding of why some survivors regain their work capacity earlier than others. The proportion of 63% of survivors returning to former work (70% to any work) as well as their speed of returning is comparable to studies from other European countries [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] but lower than in two other studies from Germany (76-87%) [4,7]. The latter two studies were based on participants of in-patient rehabilitation programs, who were followed over a 12 months period.…”

“…Despite Germany being the biggest economy within Europe and having a unique rehabilitation program, only a few studies focusing on patients after rehabilitation with a maximum follow-up of 1 year have been published so far [4,7,8]. With almost 500,000 new cancer cases per year, an estimated number of 3.5-4 million cancer survivors and 150,000 cancer-related in-patient rehabilitation measures per year [9,10], return to work represents an issue of high relevance for public health and social security.…”

Return to Work in the Gastric Cancer Survivors

“…Most previous studies regarding employment status of cancer survivors focused on prostate and breast cancer, which are common in Europe 15,16 . To date, our study was the rst to investigate the relationship between work, treatment, and disease-related factors and RTW in workers who are diagnosed of gastric cancers.…”

Breast cancer specialists' perspective on their role in their patients' return to work: A qualitative study

“…Extrapolation to contexts other than the French health system can only be made in the light of the specificities of the various systems. Barriers and facilitators to RTW after BC and the characteristics of cancer specialists' working environment are similar in many health systems; some countries, however, may have developed specific measures and organizational features to enhance specialists' involvement in accompanying RTW after cancer (57,58).…”