Adult ; Aged ; Emotions ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms/mortality ; Neoplasms/psychology* ; Neoplasms/therapy ; Prognosis ; Quality of Life* ; Republic of Korea ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Survival Rate ; Survivors/psychology* ; Workplace
Abstract
Background: Although the prevalence of cancer is increasing, it is no longer synonymous with death. The
number of cancer survivors is estimated to be increasing due to development in medical treatments and social
programs; cancer survivors are increasingly returning to work after long-term unemployment. Thus, we examined
the quality of life (QOL) and the factors associated with return of cancer survivors to the workplace. Materials
and Methods: This study was performed using the 2008 Community Health Survey administered by the Korea
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (N= 548). We used Chi-square tests to compare demographic variables
based on self-perceived health status, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare QOL scores among groups.
We also performed a mixed-model analysis of the relationship between QOL and factors at the workplaces of
cancer survivors. Results: Based on the results of our study, the overall QOL of cancer survivors was associated
with ‘mutual respect’, ‘free emotional expression’, occupation, and age. Moreover, different trends of QOL
according to self-perceived health were identified on additional analysis. In the ‘bad’ self-perceived health group,
QOL was significantly different according to income. The QOL of cancer survivors in the low-income group was
lower than in the other groups. Conversely, the ‘normal’ group had a lower QOL caused by ‘no mutual respect’
and “no free emotional expression” in the workplace. The QOL in the ‘good’ group based on self-perceived
health was higher in the younger age group. Conclusions: There may be a significant relationship between QOL
and workplace factors for cancer survivors, although further study is needed to investigate this relationship in
detail. This may facilitate formulation of policy and efforts to prevent and manage the decline in the QOL of
cancer survivors returning to work.