Related Experiment Videos
Paid Sick Leave, Care Delays, and Mortality Risk in Working Cancer Survivors
Abigail Kohut-Jackson1, Fumiko Chino2, Zhiyuan Zheng3
1Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO.
JCO Oncology Practice
|June 10, 2026
Summary
Paid sick leave helps working cancer survivors by reducing medical care delays and lowering mortality risk. This benefit may stem from maintaining employment, income, and health insurance during survivorship.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Health Services Research
- Public Health
Background:
- Cancer survivors often face significant financial burdens and time commitments for ongoing medical care.
- Paid sick leave offers crucial employment and financial stability, enabling survivors to take necessary time off for treatment and recovery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between paid sick leave and financial hardship among working adult cancer survivors.
- To examine the relationship between paid sick leave and the risk of overall and cancer-specific mortality in this population.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (2011-2023) for working adults aged 18-64 with a cancer history.
- Employed multivariable logistic regressions to assess paid sick leave's association with financial hardship and Cox proportional hazards models for mortality risk, using linked National Death Index data.
Main Results:
- Paid sick leave was linked to reduced medical care delays due to cost (ORs ranging from 0.51 to 0.74).
- A significant reduction in the risk of both overall mortality (HR=0.74) and cancer-specific mortality (HR=0.74) was observed in association with paid sick leave.
Conclusions:
- Paid sick leave is associated with decreased care delays and lower mortality risks for working cancer survivors.
- These benefits may be attributed to maintained employment, income, and insurance, improving access, affordability, and quality of survivorship care.
Related Concept Videos
01:21Cancer Survival Analysis
Cancer survival analysis focuses on quantifying and interpreting the time from a key starting point, such as diagnosis or the initiation of treatment, to a specific endpoint, such as remission or death. This analysis provides critical insights into treatment effectiveness and factors that influence patient outcomes, helping to shape clinical decisions and guide prognostic evaluations. A cornerstone of oncology research, survival analysis tackles the challenges of skewed, non-normally...
01:19Psychoneuroimmunology: Diabetes and Cancer
Chronic stress has been linked to both the onset and progression of serious health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes and cancer. Type 2 diabetes, a widespread chronic illness, is closely associated with obesity and insulin resistance, both of which often worsen under stress. Studies indicate that men experiencing high levels of chronic stress face a 45% higher risk of developing diabetes compared to those with minimal stress. Stress triggers physiological responses that elevate blood...
02:59Cancer Prevention
Several factors can increase the risk of cancer in an individual. About 50% of cancer cases can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise, eating healthy, and following a modest cancer prevention diet. Epidemiological studies have consistently shown that populations with vegetable and fruit-rich diets have reduced the incidence of cancer. On the other hand, populations who have a diet rich in animal fat, red meat, junk food, or high calories are predisposed to cancer.
Some...
Some...
02:59Cancer Prevention
Several factors can increase the risk of cancer in an individual. About 50% of cancer cases can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise, eating healthy, and following a modest cancer prevention diet. Epidemiological studies have consistently shown that populations with vegetable and fruit-rich diets have reduced the incidence of cancer. On the other hand, populations who have a diet rich in animal fat, red meat, junk food, or high calories are predisposed to cancer.
Some...
Some...
01:15Assumptions of Survival Analysis
Survival models analyze the time until one or more events occur, such as death in biological organisms or failure in mechanical systems. These models are widely used across fields like medicine, biology, engineering, and public health to study time-to-event phenomena. To ensure accurate results, survival analysis relies on key assumptions and careful study design.
01:20Actuarial Approach
The actuarial approach, a statistical method originally developed for life insurance risk assessment, is widely used to calculate survival rates in clinical and population studies. This method accounts for participants lost to follow-up or those who die from causes unrelated to the study, ensuring a more accurate representation of survival probabilities.
Consider the example of a high-risk surgical procedure with significant early-stage mortality. A two-year clinical study is conducted,...
Consider the example of a high-risk surgical procedure with significant early-stage mortality. A two-year clinical study is conducted,...