Disability pension among gynaecological cancer survivors with or without radiation-induced survivorship syndromes

• Published in: Journal of cancer survivorship Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 834 - 843
• Main Authors: Baloch, Adnan Noor, Hagberg, Mats, Thomée, Sara, Steineck, Gunnar, Sandén, Helena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Blood; Cancer; Cancer and Oncology; Cancer och onkologi; Cancer survivor; Cancer therapies; Confidence intervals; Disability pension; Disability pensions; Disorders; Environmental Health and Occupational Health; Faecal incontinence; Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi; Gynecological cancer; Gynecology; Health Informatics; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Miljömedicin och yrkesmedicin; Oncology; Patients; Pelvis; Primary Care Medicine; Public Health; Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Quality of Life Research; Radiation; Radiation effects; Radiation therapy; Radiation-induced syndromes; Radiotherapy/adverse effects; Rehabilitation; Return to work; Risk; Risk assessment; Statistical analysis; Survival; Faecal incontinence; Radiation-induced syndromes; Disability pension; Cancer survivor; Radiotherapy/adverse effects; Return to work
• ISSN: 1932-2259; 1932-2267; 1932-2267
• DOI: 10.1007/s11764-021-01077-9

Purpose Gynaecological cancer patients treated with external radiation therapy to the pelvis may face long-lasting and long-term gastrointestinal syndromes. The aim of this study was to assess the association between such radiation-induced survivorship syndromes and disability pension among gynaecological cancer survivors treated with pelvic radiation therapy. Methods This prospective register study included gynaecological cancer survivors (n=247) treated during 1991–2003, alive at the time of the study, and <65 years of age. In 2006, they completed a postal questionnaire measuring patient-reported outcomes. The self-reported data were linked to the national register on disability pensions. Relative risks and risk differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of being granted a disability pension were estimated using log-binomial regression. Results Gynaecological cancer survivors with gastrointestinal syndromes had a higher risk of disability pension than survivors without such syndromes. Survivors with blood discharge syndrome had a 2.0 (95% CI 1.3–3.2) times higher risk of disability pension than survivors without blood discharge syndrome. The relative risk among survivors with urgency syndrome was 1.9 (1.3–2.9) and for leakage syndrome, 2.1 (1.4–3.1). Adjusting for age did not affect our interpretation of the results. Conclusions Gynaecological cancer survivors with a specific radiation-induced survivorship syndrome have a higher risk of disability pension than survivors without that specific syndrome. Implications for Cancer Survivors The findings highlight the need for more awareness and knowledge regarding the potential role of radiation-induced survivorship syndromes for continuing work among gynaecological cancer survivors. Work-life-related parameters should be considered during radiotherapy and rehabilitation after treatment.