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Resignation and return to work in patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation close up

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Abstract

Purpose

To characterize the issues regarding work and employment specific to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) survivors, we conducted a nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Methods

We targeted allo-HCT survivors employed at diagnosis, aged 20–64 at survey, and survived ≥2 years without relapse. The questionnaire included the timing of and reasons for resignation (termination of employment contract), and patient-related, HCT-related, work-related, and HCT center-related factors.

Results

A total of 1048 eligible participants were included in the analysis (response rate, 60%). The median time after allo-HCT was 5 years (range, 2–30) at the time of survey. After diagnosis, 41% of participants resigned from work throughout the course of treatment. The most frequent timing of the first resignation was “after discharge post-HCT” (46%), followed by “from diagnosis to initial treatment” (27%). Factors significantly associated with resignation included female gender, older age, and part-time employment. Favorable factors included the presence of occupational health staff at the workplace, employment of ≥10 years, and self-employed/freelance. After resignation, the overall incidence of return to work with some accommodations was 76% at 5 years after HCT, but it was 52% without any accommodation.

Conclusions

Overall, the rate of resignation was 41%, and the most frequent timing of resignation was after discharge post-HCT, accounting for approximately half of the resignations (46%). Workplace accommodations increased the rate of return to work from 52% to 76%.

Implications for Cancer survivors

Early detection of employment-related concerns and support throughout the treatment process are necessary for patients receiving allo-HCT.

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Data availability

For original data, please contact skurosaw@inahp.jp.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Research and Development Fund (29-A-14).

We are truly thankful for allo-HCT survivors who kindly cooperated in this study.

Code availability (software application or custom code)

Not applicable.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Ina Central Hospital, 1313-1 Koshiro-kubo, Ina, Nagano, 396-8555, Japan

    Saiko Kurosawa

  2. Department of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Saiko Kurosawa & Takahiro Fukuda

  3. Division of Biostatistics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

    Takuhiro Yamaguchi

  4. Nursing Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Ayako Mori & Tomoko Matsuura

  5. Nursing Division, National Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Japan

    Tomoko Matsuura

  6. Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Takehiko Mori

  7. Department of Hematology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

    Masatsugu Tanaka

  8. Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Tadakazu Kondo

  9. Department of Hematology, Osaka City University Hospital, Osaka, Japan

    Yukari Umemoto

  10. Department of Hematology, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan

    Hideki Goto

  11. Department of Hematology, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan

    Satoshi Yoshioka

  12. Department of Hematology and Oncology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan

    Shinichiro Machida

  13. Department of Hematology, Japanese Red Cross Nagoya First Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

    Takahiko Sato

  14. Department of Hematology, Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital & Atomic-bomb Survivors Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Yuta Katayama

  15. Department of Hematology/Oncology Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Seiko Kato

  16. Department of Hematology, Chiba Aoba Municipal Hospital, Chiba, Japan

    Katsuhiro Shono

  17. Department of Hematology, Hyogo Cancer Center, Hyogo, Japan

    Ishikazu Mizuno

  18. Division of Hematology, Jichi Medical University Hospital, Shimotsuke, Japan

    Shin-ichiro Fujiwara

  19. Department of Hematology and Oncology, Konan Kosei Hospital, Konan, Japan

    Akio Kohno

  20. Division of Cancer Survivorship Research, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan

    Miyako Takahashi

Authors
  1. Saiko Kurosawa
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  2. Takuhiro Yamaguchi
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  3. Ayako Mori
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  4. Tomoko Matsuura
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  5. Takehiko Mori
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  6. Masatsugu Tanaka
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  7. Tadakazu Kondo
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  8. Yukari Umemoto
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  9. Hideki Goto
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  10. Satoshi Yoshioka
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  11. Shinichiro Machida
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  12. Takahiko Sato
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  13. Yuta Katayama
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  14. Seiko Kato
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  15. Katsuhiro Shono
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  16. Ishikazu Mizuno
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  17. Shin-ichiro Fujiwara
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  18. Akio Kohno
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  19. Miyako Takahashi
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  20. Takahiro Fukuda
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Contributions

S. Kurosawa, A.M. and T. Matsuura designed the study, constructed the questionnaire, manipulated the database, and interpreted the data, and S. Kurosawa performed data analysis and wrote the manuscript. T.Y. was primarily responsible for data analysis and interpretation of the data. T. Mori, M.T., T.K., Y.U., H.G., S.Y., S.M., T.S., Y.K., S. Kato, K.S., I.M., S.F., and A.K. informed patients of the study and interpreted the data. M.T. helped to design the study, construct the questionnaire, and interpret the data. T.F. helped to design the study, and interpret the data, and provided administrative support for the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saiko Kurosawa.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Ethics approval (include appropriate approvals or waivers)

The protocol was approved by the institutional review board of the National Cancer Center Hospital.

Consent to participate (include appropriate consent statements)

All subjects provided informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Kurosawa, S., Yamaguchi, T., Mori, A. et al. Resignation and return to work in patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation close up. J Cancer Surviv 16, 1004–1015 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01092-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01092-w

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