Factors Related to Employment Situation among Korean Cancer Survivors: Results from a Population-Based Study

BACKGROUND: Due to the increased incidence and survival rate of cancer, the number of cancer survivors has been increasing. In addition, many problems have been reported regarding the employment of these survivors. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the employment situation of cancer survivors and associated factors. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2014), which is a nationwide cross-sectional health survey, and included a total of 1,060 participants who were diagnosed with cancer. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the factors associated with the participants’ employment situation. RESULTS: The employment rate among cancer survivors was 42.0%. The variables found to be associated with being employed were male gender, younger age, higher household income level, educational level at middle school level or under, and not having activity limitations. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that, in addition to cancer-related factors, general characteristics such as gender, age, household income, and education level are important factors associated with the employment status of Korean cancer survivors.