gms | German Medical Science

Objective: Being employed is of considerable importance for patients with cancer in general. For brain tumour patients, often suffering from various cognitive impairments, returning to work is a challenging task, and has been shown to be associated with age, occupational group, and self-reported fatigue. The aim of the study was to investigate the quality of life, cognitive functioning and the employment situation in patients after surgery and adjuvant treatment of gliomas in eloquent areas.

Methods: Fifty-two patients with gliomas WHO grades I-III, who underwent surgery between 2013 and 2018, were interviewed retrospectively about their attitude to work, their pre- and postsurgical workload, and their physical and mental constitution. Patients’ postsurgical employment situation and cognitive functioning were analyzed descriptively.

Results: After completion of therapy (i.e. surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy), 37 patients (71.2%) had returned to work. Nine patients (24.3%) had reduced their workload from full-time to part-time jobs, and eight patients (21.6%) worked in another position within the same or a new company. Regarding the postsurgical cognitive functioning, 13 patients (35.1%) experiencing persistent attentional deficits, 14 patients (37.8%) reporting difficulties finding words, and 18 patients (48.6%) describing sustained memory impairments.

Conclusion: Given the presumable association between cognitive impairments and changes in patients’ situation after completion of glioma-therapy, individualised socio-medical care is of utmost importance. A comprehensive support for these patients is required, in order to facilitate both, their return to work as well as their return into a fulfilled sociocultural life.