title: A study to examine the influence of health professionals' advice and support on work capacity and sick leave after breast cancer surgery.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate how women, shortly after breast cancer surgery, experienced encounters with, and information from, healthcare professionals regarding work and sick leave and if these experiences were associated with self-reported work capacity and sick leave.
  
  
  
  This is a cross-sectional study based on questionnaire data from 605 women who had had breast cancer surgery, aged 20-63 years. Exclusion criteria were known distant metastases, pre surgical therapy, and/or previous breast cancer. Data on age, type of surgery, global health, and work environment were included as covariates in multivariable logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  
  Five percent of the women had not received any advice concerning work or sick leave. Women reporting receiving useful advice or support related to paid work had lower risk of reporting reduced physical or psychological/social work capacity due to the cancer or treatment (OR 0.46 (95 % CI 0.26-0.81) respective OR 0.45 (95 % CI 0.26-0.77)). There were no associations between having received useful advice or support concerning work and being on sick leave. Women encouraged to take sick leave had an OR of 2.17 (95 % CI 1.39-3.37) of being sickness absent. They also to a higher extent had reduced physical and psychological/social work capacity. Women who reported to have been encouraged to work were sickness absent to a lower extent (OR 0.64; 95 % CI 0.41-0.98) and reported higher physical work capacity.
  
  
  
  Work and sick leave is being discussed during consultations with women with breast cancer and the advice given seems to be in line with the women's subjective work capacity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, plan 6, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Oncology, Karolinska University Hospital, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bondesson
authors.affiliation: Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, plan 6, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.|Division of Nursing, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lena-Marie
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Petersson
authors.affiliation: Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, plan 6, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.|Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wennman-Larsen
authors.affiliation: Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, plan 6, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alexanderson
authors.affiliation: Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, plan 6, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Linnea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kjeldgård
authors.affiliation: Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, plan 6, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. marie.i.nilsson@ki.se.|Division of Social Work, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. marie.i.nilsson@ki.se.|Division of Social Work, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. marie.i.nilsson@ki.se.
authors.forename: Marie I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Breast cancer; Encounter; Insurance medicine; Sick leave; Work capacity