Aim: To characterize the employment situation of working-age palliative care patients.
Design: Cross-sectional survey of 112 consecutive patients aged 25-64 who were attending a palliative care outpatient clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Respondents completed a 37-item self-report questionnaire covering demographics, clinical status, and work experiences since diagnosis.
Results: The commonest cancer diagnoses were breast, colorectal, gynecologic, and lung. 81% had active disease. 74% were on treatment. 80% recalled being employed at the time of diagnosis, with 65% working full time. At the time of the survey, 44% were employed, 26% working full time. Most participants said work was important, made them feel normal, and helped them feel they were “beating the cancer”. Factors associated with being employed included male gender, self-employed, and taking less than three months off work. Respondents with pain and/or other symptoms were significantly less likely to be working. On multivariate analysis, only pain (odds ratio [OR] 8.16, p<0.001) and other physical symptoms (OR 5.90, p=0.012) predicted current work status; gender (OR 2.07), self-employed (OR 3.07) and current chemotherapy (OR 1.81) were included in the model, but were not statistically significant in this small sample.
Conclusion: Work was an important issue for many of the cancer patients who completed this survey, even though they were needing palliative care. Similar data for Australian patients is needed, as is the development and evaluation of approaches to facilitate ongoing employment for those who wish - or need - to continue working despite their illness.