Survey of return to work of head and neck cancer survivors: A report from a tertiary cancer center in India.
The rates and factors associated with the return to work of head and neck cancer survivors from low- and middle-income countries, such as India, are largely unknown.



We conducted a preliminary cross-sectional survey of 250 consecutive eligible head and neck cancer survivors (age <60; ≥6 months posttreatment) to identify return to work rates and sociodemographic, clinical, and quality of life (QOL; European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30-questions [EORTC-QLQ-C30] and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 Head and Neck 35-questions [EORTC-QLQ-H&N35]) correlates.



In our cohort, 92.4% of the patients were employed pretreatment, 65.6% and 81.2% returned to work at 6 months posttreatment and by the time of the survey (median follow-up 19 months), respectively. Family structure (<2 male children, p = .008; eldest child age <20 years, p = .04), a higher level of education (vocational or professional training, p = .013) and female sex (p = .001) were associated with higher return to work. Head and neck cancer survivors who returned to work had better global quality of life (QOL; p = .014) and less coughing (p = .001) but more problems related to sticky saliva (p = .004).



Further studies are needed to address the large unmet needs regarding identification and amelioration of barriers to return to work for head and neck cancer survivors in low- and middle-income countries, such as India. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 893-899, 2017.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Jaiprakash
J
Agarwal
Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Rahul
0000-0003-4511-7782
R
Krishnatry
Department of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Pankaj
P
Chaturvedi
Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Sarbani
S
Ghosh-Laskar
Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Tejpal
T
Gupta
Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Ashwani
A
Budrukkar
Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Vedang
V
Murthy
Department of Psychiatry, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Joyita
J
Deodhar
Department of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Deepa
D
Nair
Department of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Sudhir
S
Nair
Department of Biostatistics, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Rajesh
R
Dikshit
Department of Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Anil K
AK
D'Cruz
D000328:Adult; D000073116:Cancer Survivors; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D062707:Return to Work; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D063128:Tertiary Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
employment; head and neck cancer; low and middle-income countries; return to work; survivors