Limburg Heather, Shaw Amanda K, McBride Mary L
Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2008 Jul;51(1):93-8. doi: 10.1002/pbc.21448.
Loss of income and out of pocket expenses related to childhood cancer care can account for over 25% of a family's total disposable income, adding to the stress of facing a life-threatening disease. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the impact of childhood cancer on employment and sources of income within families.
A retrospective postal-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from parents of children diagnosed with cancer before 20 years of age between 1990 and 1996 in the province of British Columbia (n = 111).
Among full or part-time employed parents, 64% of mothers and 16% of fathers left their job after their child's diagnosis. The large majority of parents who left their jobs were away for less than 1 year (65% of mothers; 78% of fathers) and nearly all were able to return to the same job if they chose to do so (80% of mothers; 89% of fathers). Parents with children <10 years of age at diagnosis and those with leukemia were most likely to take leave from their jobs. There was considerable change in sources of income between the time of diagnosis and survey with more families relying on employment insurance, social assistance or other financial support at diagnosis. Reliance on sources of income other than salary decreased with time since diagnosis.
It appears that the diagnosis of childhood cancer may cause an important but short-term impact on the employment and income sources of affected families.
与儿童癌症治疗相关的收入损失和自付费用可能占家庭可支配总收入的25%以上，这增加了面对危及生命疾病的压力。这项试点研究的目的是评估儿童癌症对家庭就业和收入来源的影响。
采用回顾性邮寄问卷的方式，收集1990年至1996年期间在不列颠哥伦比亚省111名20岁前被诊断患有癌症儿童的父母的信息。
在全职或兼职工作的父母中，64%的母亲和16%的父亲在孩子确诊后离职。离职的父母中，绝大多数人离职时间不到1年（母亲为65%；父亲为78%），几乎所有人如果选择的话都能回到原来的工作岗位（母亲为80%；父亲为89%）。孩子确诊时年龄小于10岁的父母以及患有白血病的父母最有可能请假。从确诊到调查期间，家庭收入来源发生了相当大的变化，更多家庭在确诊时依赖失业保险、社会救助或其他经济支持。自确诊以来，对工资以外收入来源的依赖随时间减少。
儿童癌症的诊断似乎可能对受影响家庭的就业和收入来源产生重大但短期的影响。
