Return to work two years after diagnosis associated with higher cognitive speed performance before and after cancer treatment<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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FRIDAY, Aug. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Return to work two years after a breast cancer diagnosis is associated with higher cognitive speed performance before and after treatment, according to a study published online Aug. 19 in\u00a0JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Marie Lange, Ph.D., from Normandie Universit\u00c3\u00a9 UNICAEN in Caen,\u00a0France, and colleagues examined whether cognition, assessed using objective and subjective scores, was associated with return to work two years after a breast cancer diagnosis. The analysis included 178 women with breast cancer.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 20.8 percent of women did not return to work at year 2. Returning to work was more likely among patients with a higher occupational class (i.e., professional) and less likely among those who had a mastectomy (24.1 versus 54.1 percent). There was an association between return to work at year 2 and lower overall cognitive impairment (1-point unit of increased odds ratio [1-pt OR], 0.32), higher working memory (1-pt OR, 2.06), higher processing speed (1-pt OR, 1.97), higher attention performance (1-pt OR, 1.63), higher perceived cognitive abilities (1-pt OR, 1.12), and lower depression (1-pt OR, 0.83). There were associations observed between return to work and higher processing speed (1-pt OR at baseline and year 1, 2.38 and 1.95, respectively), higher executive performance (1-pt ORs, 2.61 and 2.88, respectively), and lower physical fatigue (10-pt ORs, 0.81 and 0.84, respectively).<\/p>\n “Cognitive difficulties should be assessed before return to work to propose suitable management,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n