Risk for unemployment of cancer survivors: A Danish cohort study

Abstract

Aim To investigate whether cancer survivors are at an increased risk for unemployment after cancer. Materials and methods A cohort of 65,510 patients who were part of the workforce in the year before diagnosis and a random sample of 316,925 age and gender-matched controls were followed for up to 20 years in a longitudinal register-based cohort study. Demographic, socioeconomic and health-related information were obtained through Danish administrative registers. Results Cancer survivors had a small but significantly increased risk for unemployment following cancer. Stratified analyses showed that the risk for unemployment was highest amongst persons aged 50–60 years at time of diagnosis. Risk factors for unemployment were found to be manual work, medium income and vocational education. Conclusion Generally, cancer patients were at a small increased risk for unemployment and low socioeconomic position was a significant risk factor.