Exploring the independent association of employment status to cancer survivors’ health-related quality of life

Andreu, Y. ; Picazo, C. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Murgui, S. ; Soto-Rubio, A. ; García-Conde, A. ; Romero, R.

Resumen: Background: Having a job has been associated with better Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in cancer survivors. However, the sociodemographic and disease-related profiles characterizing the survivors being employed and those having better HRQOL largely overlap. The present study aims to discern the degree to which employment status is independently associated with cancer survivors' HRQOL or if it mainly reflects the impact of other sociodemographic and cancer-related variables.
Methods: Cross-sectional study on a heterogeneous sample of 772 working-age survivors of adult-onset cancer. An instrument specifically designed to assess HRQOL in cancer survivors and Multivariate Variance Analysis (MANOVA) were used.
Results: Survival phase, cancer type, and employment status showed the main effects on cancer survivors' HRQOL. In particular, being employed (vs unemployed) had the greatest positive association with HRQOL, affecting ten of the twelve HRQOL domains considered. Also, interaction effects highlighted the role of age (younger) and marital status (single) as risk factors for a greater negative impact of variables affecting the survivor's HRQOL.
Conclusions: The application of a multivariate methodology sheds new light on two relevant issues for the cancer survivor's HRQOL: (i) the existence of differences between diagnostic groups that are not attributed to other variables such as sex, and (ii) the important and independent role that employment status plays. Comprehensive cancer survivorship care should focus more on high-risk groups and include having a job as an essential aspect to consider and prompt. The fact that the employment status is susceptible to change represents a valuable opportunity to care for the wellbeing of this population.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1186/s12955-023-02124-y

Año: 2023

Publicado en: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 21, 44 (2023), [12 pp.]
ISSN: 1477-7525

Factor impacto JCR: 3.2 (2023)

Categ. JCR: HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES rank: 26 / 118 = 0.22 (2023) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES rank: 42 / 174 = 0.241 (2023) - Q1 - T1

Factor impacto CITESCORE: 7.3 - Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health (Q1)

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.14 - Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health (Q1) - Medicine (miscellaneous) (Q1)

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)

Área (Departamento): Área Psicología Social (Dpto. Psicología y Sociología)