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Scand J Caring Sci; 2013; 27; 380-387 Cognitive, psychosocial, somatic and treatment factors predicting return to work after breast cancer treatment Background: Breast cancer (BC) may affect the ability to work. In this study, we want to identify any associations between cognitive, psychosocial, somatic and treatment factors with time to return to work (RTW) among women treated for BC. Methods and participants: At eight (baseline) and 11(follow-up) months after BC diagnosis, women who had received adjuvant treatment for early BC at Stockholm South General Hospital completed the Headminder neuropsychological tests to obtain the Cognitive Stability Index (CSI), the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire and its Breast Cancer Module. At both time points, we compared the scores from women who had returned to work with those who had not. We also reviewed the medical certificates of women still on sick leave at 8, 11 and 18 months after diagnosis to determine why they had not returned to work. Results: At baseline, 29 of 45 enroled women were working and 15 were not (one dropped out after baseline testing). The 14 women still not working 11 months after BC diagnosis had more advanced BC (OR = 3.64, 95% CI 2.01-7.31), lymph-node involvement (OR = 18.80, 95% CI 5.32-90.69) and Her 2-positive tumours (OR = 10.42,95% CI 2.19-65.32) than did working women. None of the scores for the four cognitive domains changed significantly at follow-up in either group. Comments on the medical certificates generally supported these findings. Independently of any adjuvant cancer therapy, overall quality of life improved and most women did RTW 18 months after BC diagnosis. Conclusions: Chemotherapy is associated with longer periods of sick leave. Cognitive functions do not predict RTW. Independently of any adjuvant therapy, most women eventually RTW in a few months. The ability to predict RTW after BC treatment should help prepare higher-risk patients for delayed RTW and allow earlier interventions to restore their social relations and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine gender differences in prediction of long-term outcome in first episode psychosis (FEP). Method: Eighty-one male and 72 female FEP patients were compared regarding the sensitivity and specificity of the Predictive Rating Scale (PRS). The contributions of pre-admission clinical and socio-demographic characteristics to a poor 5-year outcome were analysed for males and females separately. Gender differences in the relations between predictors and outcome were examined using the equality of correlation comparing correlation coefficients. Results: The sensitivity of the PRS was significantly better for males than for females. The following items: ‘the highest Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) the year before first admission ≤70’ and ‘GAF at first admission ≤30’ explained most of the variance of a poor 5-year outcome for males, whereas for females the corresponding items were ‘the highest educational level is compulsory school’, ‘living with parents’ and ‘contact with friends ≤2–3 times/month’. When the PRS was adapted assigning a weight of two to the item ‘the highest educational level is compulsory school’ for females, the sensitivity increased. Conclusion: This study revealed that the predictors for poor outcome differ between male and female patients with FEP. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]