Exploring the employment readiness and return to work status of breast cancer patients and related factors.
Wenmin Hou, Qiaoping Li, Xiangyu Liu and 2 others
PMID 34631993WHAT IT FOUND
Only 21.35% of 192 Chinese breast cancer survivors had returned to work.
Lower employment readiness was associated with advanced disease, cognitive symptoms, depression, fatigue and lower work ability. Survivors described support, finances and flexible work as important.
Key findings
01Only 21.35% (n=41) of the 192 participants had returned to work at data collection.
02When factors were considered together, locally advanced disease, cognitive limitations, more depression symptoms and higher fatigue were associated with lower employment readiness, while better work ability was associated with higher employment readiness.
03Qualitative themes were facilitators of return to work, and barriers plus strategies; family and colleague support, financial need, self-value and enjoying work helped, while self-worry, follow-up care, workload concerns and perceived discrimination hindered.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show how long participants had been back at work or whether factors caused employment readiness differences. It was done in one hospital in China, so results may not apply elsewhere. Only women aged 18 to 50 with stages I to III who had completed curative treatment were included; recurrence, palliative care, severe mental illness or cognitive impairment were excluded. The qualitative part included only 41 participants who had already returned to work, so it cannot describe barriers for those who did not return. Employment readiness was measured by self-report scales, and the paper did not assess work performance or quality of the return-to-work experience. The authors approached 300 people but enrolled 192, and the paper does not explain why the remaining approached people did not agree. The study included only breast cancer patients, so it does not address return to work in other cancers.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 72004039. The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reducing fatigue, depression or cognitive symptoms will improve employment readiness or return to work. This study measured associations at one time point in one hospital and did not test any intervention.