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Unemployment risk 2 years and 4 years following gastric cancer diagnosis: a population-based study

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Abstract

Purpose

The needs of gastric cancer survivors have received limited attention. Returning to work after gastric cancer has not yet been described in a population-based study. We aimed to examine the unemployment risk at 2 and 4 years after gastric cancer.

Methods

The present historical prospective cohort study included baseline measurements from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics 1995 National Census, with follow-up until 2011. A group with gastric cancer and an age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched control group were sampled from the census population. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to assess odds ratios (ORs) for the study outcomes, controlling for socioeconomic factors, and employment status at 2 years before diagnosis.

Results

Data for 152 gastric cancer cases and 464 matched controls were analyzed. Those who died during the study period were excluded. Two years after diagnosis, 53.3 % of gastric cancer survivors and 43.8 % of controls were unemployed (p = 0.04); 4 years after diagnosis, 53.9 % of survivors, and 47.2 % of controls were unemployed (p = 0.15). In the adjusted models, gastric cancer was only associated with unemployment 2 years after diagnosis (OR = 1.47, 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.02–2.12). This association weakened and lost significance 4 years after diagnosis (OR = 1.42, 95 % CI = 0.89–2.28). Gastric cancer was not associated with decreased income at 2 (OR = 1.48, 95 % CI = 0.91–1.48) or 4 years (OR = 1.65, 95 % CI = 0.99–2.74) after diagnosis.

Conclusions

Gastric cancer survivorship was associated with unemployment 2 years after diagnosis. Longer-term survivors may have the prospect of returning to work.

Implications for cancer survivors

For patients with cancer, returning to work may be an indicator for returning to a normal lifestyle after serious illness. This study highlights the need for early social support in gastric cancer survivors to promote faster recovery.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Israel National Insurance Grant (2012) and the Cost Action CANWON IS1211.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center and Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel

    Yakir Rottenberg, Albert Grinshpun & Beatrice Uziely

  2. The Jerusalem Institute of Aging Research, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center Mount Scopus and Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    Yakir Rottenberg & Jeremy M Jacobs

  3. The Department of Geriatrics and Rehabilitation, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center Mount Scopus and Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    Jeremy M Jacobs

  4. The Department of Occupational Therapy, Tel Aviv University, P.O.B. Box 39040, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Navah Z. Ratzon

  5. School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel

    Miri Cohen

  6. Academic Medical Center, Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Meibergdreef 9, 1105, AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Angela G. E. M de Boer

Authors
  1. Yakir Rottenberg
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  2. Jeremy M Jacobs
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  3. Navah Z. Ratzon
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  4. Albert Grinshpun
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  5. Miri Cohen
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  6. Beatrice Uziely
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  7. Angela G. E. M de Boer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Albert Grinshpun.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Israel National Insurance Grant (2012) and the Cost Action CANWON IS1211 (Authors: Y.R. and A.d.B.).

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict interests.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Hadassah-Hebrew University institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study formal consent is not required.

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Rottenberg, Y., Jacobs, J.M., Ratzon, N.Z. et al. Unemployment risk 2 years and 4 years following gastric cancer diagnosis: a population-based study. J Cancer Surviv 11, 119–125 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-016-0568-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-016-0568-x

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