Employment and sick leave in patients with prostate cancer before, during and after radiotherapy
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine employment outcomes after radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer (PCa).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Danish DREAM database contains information about social benefits paid to Danish citizens. Data are recorded prospectively every week. From the database, it is possible to assess whether a patient is working, on sick leave or retired at a certain time. Data on 417 Danish citizens treated with RT for PCa at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, between 1 January 2005 and 1 May 2010 were obtained from the database. The data were collected during a 2 year period from 1 year before RT to 1 year after RT.
RESULTS: Among patients of working age, 75% were still available for work 1 year after RT. The degree of sick leave increased almost continuously in the year before the start of RT and reached a maximum of 56% during RT. After RT it gradually declined. There was no significant difference between the number of patients on sick leave 1 year after RT compared to 1 year before RT (p = 0.23). Patients spent a significantly higher number of weeks on sick leave in the year after the start of RT compared to the year before RT (p = 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Except for a transient increase in sick leave during treatment, RT did not seem to affect the working lives of patients with PCa significantly.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Scandinavian Journal of Urology |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 3 |
Pages (from-to) | 164-169 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISSN | 2168-1805 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
- Aged, Employment/statistics & numerical data, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Prostatic Neoplasms/radiotherapy, Retrospective Studies, Sick Leave/statistics & numerical data
Research areas
ID: 347800391