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. 2023 Mar 14:15:337-348.
doi: 10.2147/CLEP.S399488. eCollection 2023.

Work Disability and Return to Work After Lymphoma: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study

Eva Futtrup Maksten  1   2 , Lasse Hjort Jakobsen  1   3 , Kristian Hay Kragholm  4 , Joachim Baech  1   2 , Mikkel Porsborg Andersen  5 , Jakob Madsen  1   2 , Judit Mészáros Jørgensen  6 , Michael Roost Clausen  7 , Robert Schou Pedersen  8 , Andriette Dessau-Arp  9 , Thomas Stauffer Larsen  10 , Christian Bjørn Poulsen  11 , Anne Ortved Gang  12 , Peter Brown  12 , Kirsten Fonager  2   13 , Tarec C El-Galaly  1   2 , Marianne Tang Severinsen  1   2
Affiliations

Work Disability and Return to Work After Lymphoma: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study

Eva Futtrup Maksten et al. Clin Epidemiol. .

Abstract

Purpose: Many patients diagnosed with lymphoma are of working age. Cancer patients are known to have a higher risk of sick leave and disability pension, but this has only been delineated for certain subtypes of lymphoma. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the overall risk of disability pension for all lymphoma subtypes and at quantifying return to work for patients with lymphoma in work before diagnosis.

Patients and methods: Patients aged 18-60 years with lymphoma in complete remission (CR) diagnosed between 2000 and 2019 were included in the study. Using national registers, each patient was matched with five comparators from the general population with same sex, birth year, and level of Charlson Comorbidity Index. Risk of disability pension was calculated from 90 days after CR or end of treatment with competing events (death, retirement pension, early retirement pension, relapse for patients, or lymphoma diagnosis for comparators). Return to work for patients was calculated annually until 5 years after diagnosis for patients employed before diagnosis.

Results: In total, 4072 patients and 20,360 comparators were included. There was a significant increased risk of disability pension for patients with all types of lymphoma compared to the general population (5-year risk difference: 5.3 (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.4;6.2)). Patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma were more likely to get disability pension than patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (sex- and age-adjusted 10-year risk difference: 2.9 (95% CI: 0.3;5.5)). One year after diagnosis, 24.5% of the relapse-free patients were on sick leave. Return to work was highest 2 years after diagnosis (82.1%).

Conclusion: Patients with lymphoma across all subtypes have a significantly higher risk of disability pension. Return to work peaks at 2 years after diagnosis.

Keywords: disability pension; lymphoma; return to work.

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Conflict of interest statement

E.F.M.: Grants from Dagmar Marshalls Foundation, grants from Master Carpenter Jørgen Holm and wife Elisa born Hansen’s memorial trust, during the conduct of the study. L.H.J.: Lecture fee from Roche (2021) J.B.: Research funding from Gilead Sciences Denmark J.M.J.: Consulting: Gilead, Novartis, Roche, Incyte, BMS, Orion M.R.C.: Consulting, speaker fee or advisory role: AbbVie, Janssen, Genmab, Incyte, Nordea T.S.L.: Consulting or Advisory Role: Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Gilead; Research Funding: Genentech A.O.G.: Lecture fee from Roche (2022) P.B.: Consulting or Advisory Role: Roche, Incyte, Novartis, Gilead T.C.E-G.: former employee by Roche; speakers fee from AbbVie (2021) The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cumulative risk of disability pension for patients with lymphoma and the matched comparators. (A) All lymphoma, (B) Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, (C) Hodgkin lymphoma, (D) Indolent lymphoma.
Figure 2
Figure 2
5-year absolute crude risk differences of disability pension in subgroups between patients with lymphoma and comparators.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Work status 1–5 and 10 years after diagnosis for patients with lymphoma in work before diagnosis and in live, not emigrated, censored and without relapse. Unclassified patients comprise <5 patients each year. (A) All lymphoma, (B) Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, (C) Hodgkin Lymphoma, (D) Indolent lymphoma. Due to small subgroups, only information on “working” and “sick leave” is stated for (B-D).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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