Vocational outcome in cerebral venous thrombosis: Long-term follow-up study

Few studies have investigated long-term functional outcome in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). We aimed to evaluate return to work (RTW) after CVT and its association with self-reported life satisfaction, quality of life, health, participation, fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

From hospital records, we identified all patients diagnosed with CVT in Sahlgrenska University Hospital between 1996 and 2016 and invited all survivors to a clinical follow-up visit >1 year after onset. Primary outcome was RTW within the follow-up period which was defined as ≥50% of gainful work or equivalent activity. Patients that were >62 years when they developed CVT were excluded. Cox regression analyses identified associated factors to RTW and Mann-Whitney U tests compared distributions of self-reported questionnaires on life satisfaction and health.

Of 62 eligible and consenting patients (median age: 41.5 years (28.75-51.0); 61.3% female), 44 (71.0%) did RTW within the follow-up period (median 135 months, IQR 64-197). Median time to RTW was 7.0 months (IQR 1.4-12.7). Female sex (HR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.25-0.99, P = .049) and parenchymal lesion detected during acute hospital stay (HR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.24-0.82, P = .009) were significantly associated with no RTW. Patients with RTW reported significantly higher life satisfaction, quality of life, health, participation and lesser impact of fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

Return to work after CVT is associated with higher life satisfaction, participation, and health. Parenchymal lesion in acute phase and female sex were associated with no RTW. Despite the young age of the patients, a significant portion did not regain working ability.