I. Harhira (Tunis, Tunisia)
Hopital Abderrahmane Mami de PneumophistiologieAuthor Of 1 Presentation
138P - Absenteeism at work in breast cancer patients undergoing therapy
Abstract
Background
We aimed to determine the main reasons behind absenteeism at work in breast cancer patients who are still pursuing cancer treatment.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study between Feb 2019 and Feb 2020. We enrolled localized and metastatic breast cancer patients, aged between 20-60 years old, who still work at the time of the questionnaire. All patients had a performance status between 0-2, without serious uncontrolled co-morbidities. Score of absenteeism was determined using the Arabic version of the WPAI questionnaire (Work Productivity and Activity Impairment). We also assessed different factors using the Arabic version of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaire from which scores of physical functioning, fatigue, pain, nausea and vomiting were derived, depression was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
Results
The study included 61 patients with a median age of 49 years old, 31% had metastatic disease. Eighty one percent of patients were under chemotherapy and 19% under endocrine therapy. Patient’s work needed mostly mental effort in 56% of cases. Absenteeism was reported in 23% of cases, 31% reported impairment at work, 45% reported overall work productivity loss and 40% reported daily activity impairment. Median PHQ-9 score was (5.55 ± 3.43), showing mild depression. Quality of life evaluation showed that patients had: fatigue (30%), pain (24%), nausea and vomiting (25%) and diarrhea (15%). In univariate analysis, significant risk factors correlated with absenteeism were metastatic status (p=0.03), fatigue (p=0.014), pain (p=0.006), diarrhea (p=0.024) and depression (p=0.008). In multivariate analysis, pain was the only independent factor significantly correlated with absenteeism (p=0.04, IC95%= [1.09-1.31], OR=1.25).
Conclusions
Management of pain, depression and treatment of side effects may reduce the effect of cancer on work ability.
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.