Post-diagnosis unemployment and access to work-related health benefits in survivors of brain cancer compared to other cancers.
Brain cancer diagnoses often disrupt patient function, well-being, and financial stability, but population-level economic outcomes remain underexplored. Our aim was to determine if survivors of brain cancer face greater odds of post-diagnosis unemployment and lower odds of working full-time, benefit-providing jobs following diagnosis compared to survivors of other cancers.
We analyzed pooled 2019-2023 National Health Interview Survey data of adults who reported a cancer diagnosis ≥ 1 year prior to survey completion. Weighted logistic regressions evaluated the association between cancer type and post-diagnosis unemployment and work-related health benefits, adjusting for age, disability (physical, sensory, and cognitive), and social drivers of health.
The cohort represented 22.9 million US adult survivors of cancer, including 198,961 with brain cancer. People with a diagnosis of brain cancer faced higher odds of post-diagnosis unemployment compared to other cancer types, adjusting for age, disability, and social drivers of health (OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.12, 5.77). In addition, employed survivors of brain cancer were less likely to work full-time (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09, 0.74) or have jobs offering health insurance (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.15, 0.96) or paid sick leave (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.17, 0.96).
These findings reveal markedly higher socioeconomic vulnerability for survivors of brain cancer compared to those with other cancer types.
We analyzed pooled 2019-2023 National Health Interview Survey data of adults who reported a cancer diagnosis ≥ 1 year prior to survey completion. Weighted logistic regressions evaluated the association between cancer type and post-diagnosis unemployment and work-related health benefits, adjusting for age, disability (physical, sensory, and cognitive), and social drivers of health.
The cohort represented 22.9 million US adult survivors of cancer, including 198,961 with brain cancer. People with a diagnosis of brain cancer faced higher odds of post-diagnosis unemployment compared to other cancer types, adjusting for age, disability, and social drivers of health (OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.12, 5.77). In addition, employed survivors of brain cancer were less likely to work full-time (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09, 0.74) or have jobs offering health insurance (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.15, 0.96) or paid sick leave (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.17, 0.96).
These findings reveal markedly higher socioeconomic vulnerability for survivors of brain cancer compared to those with other cancer types.