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Work after prostate cancer: a systematic review

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Abstract

Purpose

Research in the field of vocational rehabilitation, specifically for prostate cancer, remains rare despite increasing recognition of the role of vocational interventions in other cancer groups. The aim of this review was to compile and evaluate current trends, facilitators and barriers associated with returning to work after a prostate cancer diagnosis.

Method

The literature search was conducted in March 2018 using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Forty-seven original research papers published in English in peer-reviewed journals were identified. The included studies comprised a total of 20,083 prostate cancer patients with a mean age of 61 years.

Results

The studies implied a good overall return to work prognosis in prostate cancer patients; however, these findings are not generalisable to those with physically demanding or low paid jobs, comorbid conditions or poor physical functioning.

Conclusion

The limited research investigating the long-term implications of prostate cancer indicates that there may be problems related to job retention and early unwanted retirement. Facilitators and barriers to employment after prostate cancer are identified and implications for vocational interventions and further research are discussed.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

This review helps to shed light on the barriers and facilitators to employment among prostate cancer survivors, as well as the need for further research and development in vocational rehabilitation interventions for this population.

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Funding

This study was conducted with funding assistance from the National Health and Medical Research Centre, Centre of Research Excellence in Prostate Cancer Survivorship, Griffith University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia

    Vanette McLennan, Dominika Ludvik & Suzanne Chambers

  2. School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia

    Vanette McLennan

  3. University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Suzanne Chambers

  4. Exercise Medicine Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Suzanne Chambers

  5. Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Suzanne Chambers

  6. Department of Surgery, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

    Mark Frydenberg

Authors
  1. Vanette McLennan
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  2. Dominika Ludvik
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  3. Suzanne Chambers
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  4. Mark Frydenberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vanette McLennan.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The study has not been presented elsewhere.

Appendices

Appendix 1. MEDLINE search strategy

  1. 1.

    (MH “Prostatic Neoplasms”) OR “Prostatic Neoplasm”

  2. 2.

    (MH “Prostate”) OR “prostate”

  3. 3.

    (MH “Neoplasms”) OR “neoplasms”

  4. 4.

    S2 AND S3

  5. 5.

    “prostat* N3 (cancer* OR carcinoma* OR malig* or tumor* OR neoplas* OR metastas* OR adreno*)\

  6. 6.

    S1 OR S4 OR S5

  7. 7.

    “return-to-work”

  8. 8.

    (MH “Employment”)

  9. 9.

    “employment”

  10. 10.

    (MH “Unemployment”)

  11. 11.

    “unemployment”

  12. 12.

    (MH “Unemployment”)

  13. 13.

    MH “Sick Leave”)

  14. 14.

    “sick leave”

  15. 15.

    “sickness absence”

  16. 16.

    (MH “Absenteeism”)

  17. 17.

    “Absenteeism”

  18. 18.

    “disability management”

  19. 19.

    (MH “Rehabilitation, Vocational”)

  20. 20.

    “vocational rehabilitation”

  21. 21.

    “work retention”

  22. 22.

    “job retention”

  23. 23.

    “workability”

  24. 24.

    “work ability”

  25. 25.

    “work capacity”

  26. 26.

    “employability”

  27. 27.

    employable

  28. 28.

    “return to work”

  29. 29.

    MH retirement

  30. 30.

    retirement

  31. 31.

    S5 OR S6 OR S7 OR S8 OR S9 OR S10 OR S11 OR S12 OR S13 OR S14 OR S15 OR S16 OR S17 OR S18 OR S19 OR S20 OR S21 OR S22 OR S23 OR S24 OR S25 OR S26 OR S27 OR S28

  32. 32.

    (MH “Return to Work”) OR ““return to work”” OR ““return-to-work”” OR (MH “Employment”) OR ““employment”” OR (MH “Unemployment”) OR ““unemployment”” OR (MH “Sick Leave”) OR ““sick leave”” OR ““sickness absence”” OR (MH “Absenteeism”) OR ““absenteeism”” OR ““disability management”” OR (MH “Rehabilitation, Vocational”) OR ““vocational rehabilitation”” OR ““work retention”” OR ““workability”” OR ““work ability”” OR ““work capacity”” OR ““employability”” OR ““employable””

  33. 33.

    Limiters - Abstract Available; English Language; Publication Type: Journal Article; Language: Czech, English, Slovak Search modes - Boolean/Phrase

Appendix 2. EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO: identical search strategy via Ovid

  1. 1.

    MeSH descriptor: [Prostatic Neoplasms] explode all trees

  2. 2.

    MeSH descriptor: [Prostate] explode all trees

  3. 3.

    MeSH descriptor: [Neoplasms] explode all trees

  4. 4.

    S2 AND S3

  5. 5.

    prostat* near/3 (cancer* or carcinoma* or malig* or tumo?r* or neoplas* or metastas* or adreno*)

  6. 6.

    S1 OR S4 OR S5

  7. 7.

    MeSH descriptor: [Return to Work] explode all trees

  8. 8.

    MeSH descriptor: [Employment] explode all trees

  9. 9.

    MeSH descriptor: [Unemployment] explode all trees

  10. 10.

    MeSH descriptor: [Sick Leave] explode all trees

  11. 11.

    MeSH descriptor: [Absenteeism] explode all trees

  12. 12.

    MeSH descriptor: [Rehabilitation, Vocational] explode all trees

  13. 13.

    S7 or S8 or S9 or S10 or S11 or S12

  14. 14.

    S6 and S13 in Trials

Appendix 3. Scopus

(TITLE-ABS-KEY (“return to work” OR “employment” OR “unemployment” OR “sick leave” OR “absenteeism” OR “vocational rehabilitation” OR “disability management” OR “retirement” OR “sick leave” OR “sickness absence” OR “work capacity” OR “work retention”) ) AND ( ( TITLE-ABS-KEY (“prostatic neoplasms”) ) OR (TITLE-ABS-KEY ( “prostate cancer” ) ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( DOCTYPE, “ar” ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( LANGUAGE, “English” ) OR LIMIT-TO ( LANGUAGE, “Czech” ) ) AND (LIMIT-TO ( SRCTYPE, “j” ) )

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McLennan, V., Ludvik, D., Chambers, S. et al. Work after prostate cancer: a systematic review. J Cancer Surviv 13, 282–291 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-019-00750-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-019-00750-4

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