Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer Survivors
Background: Cancer survivors often experience a range of symptoms after treatment which can impact their quality of life. Symptoms may cluster or co-occur. We aimed to investigate how symptoms and symptom clusters impact the ability to work among cancer survivors. Methods: We used symptom severity d...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Cancers |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/15/21/5119 |
| _version_ | 1797632149362311168 |
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| author | Joanna E. Fardell Sim Yee (Cindy) Tan Kim Kerin-Ayres Haryana M. Dhillon Janette L. Vardy |
| author_facet | Joanna E. Fardell Sim Yee (Cindy) Tan Kim Kerin-Ayres Haryana M. Dhillon Janette L. Vardy |
| author_sort | Joanna E. Fardell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Cancer survivors often experience a range of symptoms after treatment which can impact their quality of life. Symptoms may cluster or co-occur. We aimed to investigate how symptoms and symptom clusters impact the ability to work among cancer survivors. Methods: We used symptom severity data and ability to work data routinely collected from cancer survivors attending a survivorship clinic after primary treatment with curative intent. We defined symptom clusters using single linkage and a threshold on the rescaled distances of <10. We then conducted a logistic regression to examine how symptoms and symptom clusters were related to the ability to work. Results: We analysed data from 561 cancer survivors, mean age 58 years and 1.5 years post diagnosis, with mixed diagnoses including breast (40.5%), colorectal (32.3%), and haematological cancers (15.3%). Limitations to work ability were reported by 34.9% of participants. Survivors experiencing pain, emotional, and cognitive symptom clusters were 14–17% more likely to report limitations in their ability to work. Older survivors and those with a higher stage disease were more likely to report limitations in their ability to work. Conclusion: A better understanding and management of symptom severity and symptom clusters may help the sizable proportion of cancer survivors experiencing symptoms to participate in work after treatment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:32:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a179f42ceb7b447e95f815658b0acfc0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6694 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:32:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cancers |
| spelling | doaj.art-a179f42ceb7b447e95f815658b0acfc02023-11-10T14:59:56ZengMDPI AGCancers2072-66942023-10-011521511910.3390/cancers15215119Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer SurvivorsJoanna E. Fardell0Sim Yee (Cindy) Tan1Kim Kerin-Ayres2Haryana M. Dhillon3Janette L. Vardy4UNSW Medicine & Health, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Sydney 1466, AustraliaSydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, AustraliaConcord Cancer Centre, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney 2139, AustraliaPsycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group, School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, AustraliaSydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, AustraliaBackground: Cancer survivors often experience a range of symptoms after treatment which can impact their quality of life. Symptoms may cluster or co-occur. We aimed to investigate how symptoms and symptom clusters impact the ability to work among cancer survivors. Methods: We used symptom severity data and ability to work data routinely collected from cancer survivors attending a survivorship clinic after primary treatment with curative intent. We defined symptom clusters using single linkage and a threshold on the rescaled distances of <10. We then conducted a logistic regression to examine how symptoms and symptom clusters were related to the ability to work. Results: We analysed data from 561 cancer survivors, mean age 58 years and 1.5 years post diagnosis, with mixed diagnoses including breast (40.5%), colorectal (32.3%), and haematological cancers (15.3%). Limitations to work ability were reported by 34.9% of participants. Survivors experiencing pain, emotional, and cognitive symptom clusters were 14–17% more likely to report limitations in their ability to work. Older survivors and those with a higher stage disease were more likely to report limitations in their ability to work. Conclusion: A better understanding and management of symptom severity and symptom clusters may help the sizable proportion of cancer survivors experiencing symptoms to participate in work after treatment.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/15/21/5119cancerworksurvivorsymptomscognitive symptomsanxiety |
| spellingShingle | Joanna E. Fardell Sim Yee (Cindy) Tan Kim Kerin-Ayres Haryana M. Dhillon Janette L. Vardy Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer Survivors Cancers cancer work survivor symptoms cognitive symptoms anxiety |
| title | Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer Survivors |
| title_full | Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer Survivors |
| title_fullStr | Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer Survivors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer Survivors |
| title_short | Symptom Clusters in Survivorship and Their Impact on Ability to Work among Cancer Survivors |
| title_sort | symptom clusters in survivorship and their impact on ability to work among cancer survivors |
| topic | cancer work survivor symptoms cognitive symptoms anxiety |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/15/21/5119 |
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