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Employment trends in young women following a breast cancer diagnosis
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May 30 2019
Source: Breast Cancer Res Treat. 177(1):207-214
Details:
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Alternative Title:Breast Cancer Res Treat
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Personal Author:
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Description:Purpose
Little is known about how a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment affects job-related outcomes in young women with breast cancer, who are an integral part of the workforce. We sought to describe employment trends among young breast cancer survivors.
Methods:
911 women with non-metastatic breast cancer were surveyed about employment-related outcomes 1-year post-diagnosis. Participants were enrolled in the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Study an ongoing, multi-center cohort of women diagnosed with breast cancer at age ≤40.
Results:
Among 911 women, median age at diagnosis was 37 years (range: 17–40). Most women (80%, n=729) were employed 1-year post-diagnosis. Among the 7% (n=62) employed before diagnosis but who reported unemployment at 1-year, approximately half reported they were unemployed for health reasons. Among employed women, 7% said treatment affected their ability to perform their job. Women with stage 3 disease (vs. stage 1 disease, odds ratio (OR): 3.73, 95% CI, 1.39–9.97) and those who reported having money to pay bills after cutting back or difficulty paying bills at baseline (vs. having enough money for special things, OR: 2.70, 95% CI, 1.32–5.52) at baseline were more likely to have transitioned out of the workforce.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest an impact of disease burden and socioeconomic status on employment in young breast cancer survivors. There is a need to ensure young survivors who leave the workforce following diagnosis are sufficiently supported given the potential adverse psychosocial and financial impacts unemployment on survivors, their families, communities, and society.
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Subjects:
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Pubmed ID:31147983
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Pubmed Central ID:PMC7265819
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