J Korean Med Sci.  2019 Mar;34(11):e98. 10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e98.

Cancer Survivors and Returning to Work Perspectives from Occupational Health Physicians in Korea

• Shim HY
• Lee CW
• Yu ES
• Park BY
• Yang EJ

• KMID: 2441930
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e98

Abstract

BACKGROUND
This study was conducted from an occupational health perspective to document cancer survivors' ability to return to work, the role of clinical care, and the current status of effective return-to-work.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the experiences and opinions of occupational health physicians (OHPs) regarding cancer survivors' return-to-work. A self-reported survey was conducted from December 30, 2015, to January 30, 2016, targeting 337 OHPs. Questions included: 1) treatment experiences of survivors in the words of OHPs, 2) current status of the assessments of fitness for work of cancer survivors, 3) experiences associated with workplace and treatment, and 4) problems of returning to work and overcoming system.
RESULTS
Only 25% of the respondents said that they had experience treating cancer survivors, and the average number of patients was 12.6 per annum, which indicated that few cancer survivors were treated. Eleven cases included conducting assessment of fitness for work. There were 17 respondents who did not treat cancer survivors. Both those who had and did not have experience in treating survivors showed higher musculoskeletal system disorders (53.8 vs. 63.5) than cancer (15.5 vs. 11.2) in terms of frequency of the diseases in the assessment of fitness for work. Most respondents said that OHPs evaluate the current role appropriately and preferred OHPs in the future. They responded that OHPs found it difficult to treat cancer survivors, and it was psychologically tough to communicate with them (61.4%). Regarding the association of patient rehabilitation with workplaces, 48.9% said that workplaces provide inadequate support.
CONCLUSION
As a preliminary study, we found that OHPs were found to have little experience in treating cancer survivors and undergo difficulties owing to poor collaboration with workplaces and communication with patients. This study will provide basic data for future studies to promote cancer survivors' return to workplaces.

Keyword

Cancer Survivor; Return to Work; Work Place

MeSH Terms

Cooperative Behavior
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Korea*
Musculoskeletal System
Occupational Health Physicians*
Occupational Health*
Rehabilitation
Return to Work
Surveys and Questionnaires
Survivors*
Workplace