Impact of cancer on work and education among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the impact of cancer on work and education in a sample of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer. Patients and Methods: By using the Adolescent and Young Adult Health Outcomes and Patient Experience Study (AYA HOPE) - a cohort of 463 recently diagnosed patients age 15 to 39 years with germ cell cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, sarcoma, and acute lymphocytic leukemia from participating Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registries - we evaluated factors associated with return to work/school after cancer diagnosis, a belief that cancer had a negative impact on plans for work/school, and reported problems with work/school after diagnosis by using descriptive statistics, χ 2 tests, and multivariate logistic regression. Results: More than 72% (282 of 388) of patients working or in school full-time before diagnosis had returned to full-time work or school 15 to 35 months postdiagnosis compared with 34% (14 of 41) of previously part-time workers/students, 7% (one of 14) of homemakers, and 25% (five of 20) of unemployed/disabled patients (P