A cancer diagnosis in Korean employees resulted in a 47.0% job loss rate over 6 years, with only 30.5% of those losing their jobs in the first year achieving re-employment.
Cohort (n=5,396)
Yes
What are the rates and predictors of job loss and re-employment among Korean employees diagnosed with cancer?
A cancer diagnosis significantly impacts employment status in Korean workers, with nearly half losing their jobs and less than a third of those re-entering the workforce within 6 years.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a diagnosis of cancer has an impact on the cancer patients' job loss and re-employment and to identify the factors affecting job loss and re-employment during 6 years of follow-up of Korean employees with cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All employees except for the self-employed in Korea who were diagnosed with cancer during the 2001 calendar year (n = 5,396) were identified as the first baseline patients and were followed every 3 months over 6 years to estimate the time taken to job loss. Patients who lost their job within the first year after a diagnosis of cancer (n = 1,398) were identified as the second baseline patients and were followed up over 5 years to estimate the time taken to re-employment using the National Health Insurance claims data. Patient demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical variables were investigated as factors that affected job loss and re-employment. RESULTS: Among the first baseline cancer patients, 47.0% lost their job, and among the second baseline patients, 30.5% were re-employed over 69 to 72 months of follow-up. Female sex, younger age and older age, company employee, lower income, blood cancer, and brain and CNS, lung, and liver cancer were significant predictors of early job loss or delayed re-employment. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of cancer affects cancer patients' employment status differently according to different factors: sex, age, type of job, income, and cancer site. Efforts should be made to support re-employment and reduce unnecessary work cessation and disparity between different demographic and socioeconomic groups of cancer survivors.
Park et al. (Thu,) conducted a cohort in Cancer (n=5,396). Cancer diagnosis was evaluated on Job loss and re-employment. A cancer diagnosis in Korean employees resulted in a 47.0% job loss rate over 6 years, with only 30.5% of those losing their jobs in the first year achieving re-employment.