The effect of treatment on work productivity in patients with bladder cancer

To describe the impact of bladder-preserving treatment vs. cystectomy on work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI) among patients with bladder cancer.

Using cross-sectional survey data, we constructed 2-part models involving both logistic and linear prediction to describe the relationship between WPAI and treatment modality among patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).

A total of 848 patients were included in the analysis. Patients with NMIBC who had cystectomy were more likely to experience activity impairment compared with those receiving bladder-preserving treatment (OR: 4.25, 95% CI: 2.28-7.93). Among patients with MIBC, cystectomy was protective against increasing presenteeism (e^β: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.23-0.71) and productivity loss (e^β: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.21-0.88); however, the opposite effect was seen for absenteeism treatment (e^β: 4.82, 95% CI: 1.72-13.49).

Cystectomy increased the odds of experiencing activity impairment for patients with NMIBC. However, for patients with MIBC, cystectomy appears to be protective for presenteeism and productivity loss. Further work is needed in order to better understand these important relationships and improve both patient counseling and shared decision-making.