Return to work of breast cancer survivors: A systematic review of intervention studies | Knowledge Translation for Employment Research Center

Authors:	Howard, L., Heslin, M., Leesee, M., McCrone, P., Rice, C., Jarrett, M., Spokes, T., Huxley, P., & Thornicroft, G.
Year Published	2009
Publication	BioMed Central Cancer
Volume	9
Number	117
Pages	1-10
Publisher	BioMed Central
Background	More working aged women are surviving breast cancer. As a result more are returning to work. Unfortunately, efforts related to employment or return to work have not been given adequate attention by the research community.
Purpose	This review looked at various intervention studies that impact return to work for breast cancer survivors.
Setting	This study is a systematic review. The included studies were undertaken in various locations and settings.
Sample	The sample consisted of 4 studies involving women with breast cancer.
Data Collection	Database searches for studies conducted between 1970 and 2007 revealed 5219 studies. Four studies (1 published in the 1970's,2 in the 1980's and 1 in 2000)out of 100 potentially relevant abstracts were selected for review.
Control	There were no comparison or control conditions.
Findings	Among the 4 studies that meet the inclusion criteria, the intervention programs focused on improvement of physical, psychological, and social recovery. Although the majority of participants in these studies returned to work (75% to 85%) it is not clear if this would have been lower for individuals who did not receive counseling,exercise, or any other interventions, because only one study included a comparison group.
Conclusions	There is a lack of methodologically sound intervention studies on breast cancer survivors and return to work. More sound research is needed.
URL	http://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2407-9-117
Disabilities
Populations	Female
Outcomes	Return to work
NIDILRR Funded	No
Research Design	Systematic reviews and meta-analysis
Peer Reviewed	Yes

Year Published

2009

Publication

BioMed Central Cancer

Volume

9

Number

117

Pages

1-10

Publisher

BioMed Central

Background

More working aged women are surviving breast cancer. As a result more are returning to work. Unfortunately, efforts related to employment or return to work have not been given adequate attention by the research community.

Purpose

This review looked at various intervention studies that impact return to work for breast cancer survivors.

Setting

This study is a systematic review. The included studies were undertaken in various locations and settings.

Sample

The sample consisted of 4 studies involving women with breast cancer.

Data Collection

Database searches for studies conducted between 1970 and 2007 revealed 5219 studies. Four studies (1 published in the 1970's,2 in the 1980's and 1 in 2000)out of 100 potentially relevant abstracts were selected for review.

Control

There were no comparison or control conditions.

Findings

Among the 4 studies that meet the inclusion criteria, the intervention programs focused on improvement of physical, psychological, and social recovery. Although the majority of participants in these studies returned to work (75% to 85%) it is not clear if this would have been lower for individuals who did not receive counseling,exercise, or any other interventions, because only one study included a comparison group.

Conclusions

There is a lack of methodologically sound intervention studies on breast cancer survivors and return to work. More sound research is needed.

URL

http://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2407-9-117

Disabilities

Populations

Female

Outcomes

Return to work

NIDILRR Funded

No

Research Design

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis

Peer Reviewed

Yes