Impact of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment on work-related life and factors affecting them.
We investigated the impacts of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment on employment status and the ability to perform occupational and housekeeping tasks. We performed a cross-sectional study to compare Korean breast cancer survivors (n = 1,594) who had been working before cancer diagnosis with a group of 20 to 60-year-old women from the general Korean population (n = 415). Employment decreased from 47.6% to 33.2% after cancer treatment. It was significantly smaller relative to the general population (52.1%) [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.68; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.35-2.11). There was an inverse association between employment and low levels of education, low household income, multiple comorbidities, disease stage, and mastectomy. In addition, women who lived with a spouse were more likely to quit working after treatment compared to women who had no spouse. Fatigue and exhaustion were the most frequent difficulties encountered during occupational work (by 46.8% of cancer survivors) and housework (64.6%). Our findings suggest that breast cancer has a greater impact on employment among Korean women than among women in previously studied Western populations. Our data suggest that socio-cultural factors, as well as certain clinical characteristics, influence the decisions of Korean women to return or to not return to work after surviving breast cancer.
Ahn
Eunmi
E
National Cancer Control Research Institute & Hospital, National Cancer Center, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, 410-769 Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Cho
Juhee
J
Shin
Dong Wook
DW
Park
Byeong Woo
BW
Ahn
Sei Hyun
SH
Noh
Dong-Young
DY
Nam
Seok Jin
SJ
Lee
Eun Sook
ES
Yun
Young Ho
YH
D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017741:Survivors; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult