Many head and neck cancer survivors do not return to work, according to a study published in the April issue of Head & Neck.
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From Medical Express
About 40 percent of head and neck cancer survivors do not return to work
the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:
According to a study published in the journal Head & Neck, researchers from Jena University Hospitial and University Medical Centre in Germany have found that many survivors of head and neck cancer do not return to work.
For the exploratory study, researchers identified 55 head and neck cancer survivors no older than 60 years of age.
All participants completed a survey that included subscales from various health questionnaires. Results showed that the rate of employed patients decreased from 75% of patients prior to diagnosis to 33% at an average of 66.8 months following diagnosis.
Researchers found that current employment was associated with more difficult physical work prior to diagnosis, surgical treatment, and current risky consumption of alcohol.
The study also showed that unemployed survivors reported decreased functional and social well-being scores and increased depression scores.
The findings suggest that psychosocial variables were significantly associated to employment, but the authors note that further research is necessary to evaluate these relationships.
