Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Jan 21;9(1):e022746.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022746.

Feasibility randomised controlled trial of a guided workbook intervention to support work-related goals among cancer survivors in the UK

Elizabeth A Grunfeld  1 , Lauren Schumacher  2 , Maria Armaou  2 , Pernille L Woods  1 , Pauline Rolf  2 , Andrew John Sutton  3 , Anjali Zarkar  4 , Steven S Sadhra  5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Feasibility randomised controlled trial of a guided workbook intervention to support work-related goals among cancer survivors in the UK

Elizabeth A Grunfeld et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: Employment following illness is associated with better physical and psychological functioning. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a theoretically led workbook intervention designed to support patients with cancer returning to work.

Design: Parallel-group randomised controlled trial with embedded qualitative interviews.

Setting: Oncology clinics within four English National Health Service Trusts.

Participants: Patients who had received a diagnosis of breast, gynaecological, prostate or colorectal cancer and who had been receiving treatment for a minimum of two weeks.

Intervention: A self-guided WorkPlan workbook designed to support patients with cancer to return to work with fortnightly telephone support calls to discuss progress. The control group received treatment as usual and was offered the workbook at the end of their 12-month follow-up.

Outcome measures: We assessed aspects of feasibility including eligibility, recruitment, data collection, attrition, feasibility of the methodology, acceptability of the intervention and potential to calculate cost-effectiveness.

Results: The recruitment rate of eligible patients was 44%; 68 participants consented and 58 (85%) completed baseline measures. Randomisation procedures were acceptable, data collection methods (including cost-effectiveness data) were feasible and the intervention was acceptable to participants. Retention rates at 6-month and 12-month follow-up were 72% and 69%, respectively. At 6-month follow-up, 30% of the usual care group had returned to full-time or part-time work (including phased return to work) compared with 43% of the intervention group. At 12 months, the percentages were 47% (usual care) and 68% (intervention).

Conclusions: The findings confirm the feasibility of a definitive trial, although further consideration needs to be given to increasing the participation rates among men and black and ethnic minority patients diagnosed with cancer.

Trial registration number: ISRCTN56342476; Pre-results.

Keywords: cancer; employment; feasibility; intervention; randomised controlled trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow of participants through the study (showing cumulative attrition at each time point from point of randomisation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. de Boer AG, Taskila T, Ojajärvi A, et al. . Cancer survivors and unemployment: a meta-analysis and meta-regression. JAMA 2009;301:753–62. 10.1001/jama.2009.187 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Verdecchia A, Guzzinati S, Francisci S, et al. . Survival trends in European cancer patients diagnosed from 1988 to 1999. Eur J Cancer 2009;45:1042–66. 10.1016/j.ejca.2008.11.029 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Taskila T, de Boer AG, van Dijk FJ, et al. . Fatigue and its correlates in cancer patients who had returned to work--a cohort study. Psychooncology 2011;20:1236–41. 10.1002/pon.1843 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Harrington CB, Hansen JA, Moskowitz M, et al. . It’s not over when it’s over : long-term symptoms in cancer survivors—a systematic review. Int J Psychiatry 2010;40:163–81. 10.2190/PM.40.2.c - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cooper AF, Hankins M, Rixon L, et al. . Distinct work-related, clinical and psychological factors predict return to work following treatment in four different cancer types. Psychooncology 2013;22:659–67. 10.1002/pon.3049 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data