Sick Leave In Patients With Prostate Cancer Before, During, And After Radiotherapy.

153 Background: Returning to work following cancer treatment is a sign of recovery. Side-effects might result in sick leave rendering patients unable to work. The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of sick leave in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) before, during and after definitive radiotherapy.The Danish DREAM-database contains information on all social benefits paid out to Danish citizens. Based on the DREAM-database it is possible to assess whether a patient is working, on sick leave, or retired. Data on 427 of 473 Danish citizens, treated with definitive intensity-modulated radiotherapy for PCa at our center between January 1 2005 and May 1 2010, were obtained from the DREAM-database. Of the 427 patients 118 patients were working or available to the job market at the start of radiotherapy. Of the 118 patients 59 patients were on sick leave at some point during the course of radiotherapy and they followed in the DREAM-database from one year prior to radiotherapy until one year after the treatment. The median age was 60 (age, range 49-65). Based on the data from the database the 59 patients were divided into the four categories "Working or unemployed", "Sick leave", "Retirement" or "Dead". Furthermore, the patients' statuses after sick leave were determined.The results are shown in the table. Nearly all patients (91.5%) return to work following sick leave. One year after radiotherapy 64.4% of the patients are working, and 13.6% are on sick leave.The vast majority of patients that are on sick leave during the course of radiotherapy for PCa return to work. However, one year after RT only 64 % are working or available for work indicating that the return to work for a lot of the patients is relatively short-lasting. Further research is needed to clarify why. [Table: see text].