RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Employment disruption among women with gynecologic cancers
JF International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer
JO Int J Gynecol Cancer
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 69
OP 78
DO 10.1136/ijgc-2021-002949
VO 32
IS 1
A1 Roni Nitecki
A1 Shuangshuang Fu
A1 Kirsten A Jorgensen
A1 Lauren Gray
A1 Carolyn Lefkowits
A1 Benjamin D Smith
A1 Larissa A Meyer
A1 Alexander Melamed
A1 Sharon H Giordano
A1 Pedro T Ramirez
A1 Jose Alejandro Rauh-Hain
YR 2022
UL http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/32/1/69.abstract
AB Background Adverse employment outcomes pose significant challenges for cancer patients, though data patients with gynecologic cancers are sparse. We evaluated the decrease in employment among patients in the year following the diagnosis of a gynecologic cancer compared with population-based controls.Methods Patients aged 18 to 63 years old, who were diagnosed with cervical, ovarian, endometrial, or vulvar cancer between January 2009 and December 2017, were identified in Truven MarketScan, an insurance claims database of commercially insured patients in the USA. Patients working full- or part-time at diagnosis were matched to population-based controls in a 1:4 ratio via propensity score. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the risk of employment disruption in patients versus controls.Results We identified 7446 women with gynecologic cancers (191 vulvar, 941 cervical, 1839 ovarian, and 4475 endometrial). Although most continued working following diagnosis, 1579 (21.2%) changed from full- or part-time employment to long-term disability, retirement, or work cessation. In an adjusted model, older age, the presence of comorbidities, and treatment with surgery plus adjuvant therapy versus surgery alone were associated with an increased risk of employment disruption (p<0.0003, p=0.01, and p<0.0001, respectively) among patients with gynecologic cancer. In the propensity-matched cohort, patients with gynecologic cancers had over a threefold increased risk of employment disruption relative to controls (HR 3.67, 95% CI 3.44 to 3.95).Conclusion Approximately 21% of patients with gynecologic cancer experienced a decrease in employment in the year after diagnosis. These patients had over a threefold increased risk of employment disruption compared with controls.Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. NA.