Women’s experiences of encounters with healthcare professionals’ regarding work after breast-cancer surgery and associations with sickness absence: a 2-year follow-up cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women, and half of those diagnosed are of working age. Positive encounters regarding work from healthcare professionals have been shown to promote return to work among sickness absentees in general. However, the knowledge about encounters possible associations with sickness absence (SA) in women with BC is scarce. AIM: To explore if women had experienced encounters regarding work from healthcare professionals during the first year after BC surgery and if this was associated with SA during the second year after surgery, controlled for treatment and sociodemographic effects. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of 690 Swedish women with primary BC, aged 24–63 years included after surgery. Descriptive statistics and adjusted logistic regression (age, birth country, education, self-rated health, treatment) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used. RESULTS: Eighty percent of the women had experienced encounters regarding work. Women who got advice and support regarding work (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.5; 0.3–0.9) or were encouraged to work (adjusted OR 0.6; 0.3–0.9) had less SA. A larger proportion of those encouraged to work had less advanced cancer, surgery, hormone, or radiotherapy. Consistently, women encouraged to be on SA had more SA, but this was partly explained by disease or treatment factors (crude OR 1.6; 1.1–2.4, adjusted OR 1.2 (0.8–1.9) since a larger proportion of those with more advanced cancer, surgery, or chemotherapy had more SA. CONCLUSION: Most women experienced encounters regarding work, and the nature of these encounters were associated with SA 2 years after BC surgery.