An awareness survey of surgeons involved in breast cancer treatment regarding their patients returning to work

Abstract

Surgeons focus on the period of absence from work during the initial treatment of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine surgeons' perceptions and awareness regarding the necessary period of absence from work during breast cancer treatment. We created a questionnaire for all surgeons involved in breast cancer treatment who are affiliated with the Department of Surgery at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine and its associated facilities. The necessary leave of absence period for each treatment was considered, and the decision regarding whether patients should return to work was examined. The surgeons were instructed to assume that a 'heavy load worker' was a nurse or caregiver and that a 'light load worker' was a medical office worker. This study included 184 surgeons (response rate: 96.8%). More than half of the surgeons considered that light load workers could return to work within 2 weeks; 89.8% after conservative resection, 71.6% after total mastectomy, 50.3% after axillary dissection. In contrast, more than half of the surgeons considered that heavy load worker should wait returning to work more than 3 weeks; 49.4% after conservative resection, 73.3% after total mastectomy, 85.7% after axillary dissection. For patients treated with chemotherapy, three-quarters of the surgeons indicated that it would be difficult to work while receiving anthracycline regimens. The results suggest that surgeons can predict the approximate period of absence from work for patients who receive an initial treatment of breast cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer survivors; period of absence from work; return to work.

Fig. 1

The answers regarding the timing of returning to work are shown Figure 1A (n=182). The factors preventing a return to work during chemotherapy are shown Figure 1B (n=165).

Fig. 2

The timeframe after which breast cancer survivors are permitted to resume work after surgical procedures are indicated in Figure 2. The surgical procedures were conservative resection (A), total mastectomy (B), and axillary dissection (C). The answer ‘do not know’ is excluded from these figures. Black bar: 1 week; Gray bar: 2 weeks; Dot bar: 3 weeks; Stripe bar: 4 weeks; and White bar: more than 5 weeks.