A cross-sectional study of current work ability after radical prostatectomy

BACKGROUND: Work ability represents a person’s subjective assessment of current ability to work compared to his lifetime best. Since many men with prostate cancer are retired, work ability represents a more relevant work measure than employment status. The primary aim was to examine the prevalence of men who had high versus moderate/poor current work ability compared to their lifetime best work ability at a mean of 3.0 years after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy. The secondary aim was to study variables associated with moderate/poor work ability at survey. METHODS: This is a questionnaire-based study of men who had robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy at Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet between January 2005 and August 2010. Among them 777 responded (79%), 730 reported on current work ability, socio-demographic data, somatic and mental health, and typical adverse effects (the EPIC-26) after prostatectomy. High versus moderate/poor work ability was the primary outcome. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were applied. RESULTS: The mean age of the sample at survey was 65.5 years (SD 5.9). At survey 42% of the sample reported moderate/poor current work ability and 58% reported high work ability. In multivariable analysis older age at survey, low basic education, comorbidity, poor self-rated health, presence of depression and low EPIC-26 hormonal domain score remained significantly associated with moderate/poor work ability. CONCLUSIONS: Current work ability is a useful measure for the working capacity particularly of retired men. Socio-demographic, cancer-related, health, psychological and typical adverse effect variables were significantly associated with moderate/poor current work ability after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy, and several health and psychological variables are amenable to identification and treatment by health care providers.