The Research Unit, Department of Palliative Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Cancer Epidemiol. 2012 Apr;36(2):222-9. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2011.06.001. Epub 2011 Aug 15.
If patients facing difficulties in the process of returning to work after treatment of cancer could be identified, these patients could be assisted in the transition. This might help some patients to stay in work. We therefore assessed demographic and clinical factors associated with returning to work after a cancer diagnosis.
In this cross-sectional survey, 1490 cancer patients who had been in contact with a hospital department during the past 12 months in three Danish counties responded to a mailed questionnaire. Factors associated with employment and return to work (i.e., working more than 0 h in the past month) respectively, were assessed in multivariate ordinal logistic regression models.
Of the 598 patients below age 65 who were employed at the time of diagnosis, 75% were still employed when answering the questionnaire at a median of 2.8 years after diagnosis and 63% were working. In multivariate analyses, younger and more recently diagnosed patients were more often employed. Patients diagnosed with lung or head and neck cancer were least likely to be employed and having returned to work. Advanced cancer at diagnosis was associated with loss of employment. Advanced cancer and being in active treatment were associated with not having returned to work.
A quarter of the patients had lost their employment probably resulting in economic consequences on the individual as well as at the societal level. The highest risk was observed for older patients and those diagnosed with lung or head and neck cancer.
如果能够识别出在癌症治疗后重返工作岗位过程中遇到困难的患者，就可以为这些患者提供帮助，使其顺利过渡。这可能有助于一些患者继续工作。因此，我们评估了与癌症诊断后重返工作岗位相关的人口统计学和临床因素。
在这项横断面调查中，丹麦三个县的 1490 名在过去 12 个月内与医院科室有过接触的癌症患者对邮寄的问卷做出了回应。在多变量有序逻辑回归模型中，分别评估了与就业和重返工作岗位（即过去一个月工作超过 0 小时）相关的因素。
在诊断时就业的 598 名年龄在 65 岁以下的患者中，有 75%在诊断后中位数为 2.8 年时回答问卷时仍在工作，有 63%在工作。在多变量分析中，年龄较小和最近诊断的患者更有可能就业。诊断为肺癌或头颈部癌症的患者就业的可能性最小，且重返工作岗位的可能性也最小。诊断时癌症已处于晚期与失业相关。癌症处于晚期和正在积极治疗与未重返工作岗位相关。
四分之一的患者已经失业，这可能会给个人和社会层面带来经济后果。年龄较大的患者和诊断为肺癌或头颈部癌症的患者风险最高。
