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Almost half of working CRC patients do not retain their jobs
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Among employed colorectal cancer patients, 45% reported they did not retain their jobs due to their illness, and paid sick leave was found to be associated with higher likelihood of job retention, according to a research letter published in JAMA.
“This study examined the association between access to paid sick leave and job retention and personal financial burden among patients with CRC,” Christine M. Veenstra, MD, MSHP, department of internal medicine, division of hematology/oncology, University of Michigan, and colleagues wrote.
Christine M. Veenstra
Between August 2011 and March 2013, Veenstra and colleagues surveyed 567 adults with stage 3 CRC identified in the Georgia and Detroit SEER cancer registries. All patients were employed at diagnosis, were contacted at 4 months after surgery and were allowed to respond up to a year after surgery. Job retention and personal financial burden served as primary outcomes, and access to paid sick leave at diagnosis served as the primary independent variable.
Among respondents, 58% were men, 68% were white, 28% had less than a high school education, 35% reported less than $50,000 per year in household income and 56% had access to paid sick leave.
Compared with those who had paid sick leave, those who did not have it more frequently borrowed money (28% vs. 18%), had trouble making credit card payments (29% vs. 14%), and showed decreased spending on food and clothing (50% vs. 35%) and decreased spending on recreation (57% vs. 47%; all P < .001).
Overall, 55% of patients retained their jobs, while 26% became disabled, 7% retired, 8% became unemployed and 4% found new jobs. Those who retained their jobs tended to be men, white, married, free of comorbid disease, more highly educated and have higher annual income, private health insurance and paid sick leave.
After adjusting for covariates, they found 59% (95% CI, 57%-62%) of those with paid sick leave retained their jobs compared with 33% (95% CI, 31%-34%) of those who did not have paid sick leave (P < .001), and the mean personal financial burden score (a validated composite score of six 5-point Likert questions) was 2.19 (95% CI, 2.11-2.27) and 2.81 (95% CI, 2.69-2.93), respectively (P < .001).
“Further adjustment for job retention did not attenuate the association, suggesting that job retention did not explain the reduced personal financial burden among those with paid sick leave,” the researchers wrote. “Lack of paid sick leave may be a proxy for low-wage jobs or low socioeconomic status. However, our data show that the association with paid sick leave was robust to education, income and health insurance.” – by Adam Leitenberger
Disclosures: Veenstra reports she received institutional funding from Pfizer unrelated to this research. Please see the full study for a list of all other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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