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Cancer is one of the major socio-health problems in the world. The level of education, the profession and/or employment status of the patient and the family can influence the amount of household income, the additional expenditure, and the possible socio-economic impact of the disease. The main objective of the study is to analyse and evaluate the influence of the level of education, the employment status of the patient, and the need for care and how these factors influence the additional expenditure and the possible socio-economic impact. Methods: descriptive cross-sectional randomised observational epidemiological study without replacement at the Hospital Universitario de Salamanca (CAUSA). Results: total sample (n = 365) comprised 53.2% of patients with no education or primary education, 25.8% with secondary education and 21.1% with higher education. Overall, 36.4% of patients were employed, 10.1% were self-employed, 53.0% were not employed, and 38.9% were experiencing other conditions. Significant statistics were found for educational level, employment status of the patient and main caregivers in terms of financial expenditure. Conclusions: Oncology patients with more education spend more on home help and/or accompanying the patient and transfers to the hospital for treatment. Higher incomes are not synonymous with higher expenditure in the sample. The patient’s main caregivers are a fundamental pillar of the patient’s household income and additional spending on orthopaedic material.

Background: Of the many side effects suffered by cancer patients, those related to cognitive performance have become increasingly prominent in clinical practice. We know that chemotherapy generates a series of side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, alopecia, and so on, which can be counteracted by complementary medication. However, in the case of post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment, or chemo brain, these cannot be controlled with drug therapies. However, before any intervention can be considered, it is necessary to know exactly what cognitive impairment is being triggered. For this reason, we decided to study the cognitive status of breast cancer patients. Methods: analytical, prospective, three-measure longitudinal, intrasubject unifactorial, non-probabilistic and accidental assignment study. The sample came from the Medical Oncology Department at Hospital de Salamanca, in Spain. Cognitive function (Trail Making Test and Stroop Test) was established as the primary variable; the presence of sleep disorders (Insomnia Severity Index, ISI) and anaemia (haemoglobin levels in blood) were analysed as secondary variables, in addition to sociodemographic variables (age, stage, type of carcinoma, radiotherapy, menopause, social support network, marital status, years of schooling and employment status). Results: We recruited 151 individuals according to the selection criteria. We can confirm that factors including anaemia, menopause, patient support network and marital status, years of schooling, and employment status did affect the cognitive performance of the patients in active chemotherapy treatment in the study. In contrast, sleep disorders, age, radiotherapy treatment, stage of disease, and type of carcinoma did not affect the cognitive performance of the cancer patients. Conclusions: Chemotherapy does impact the cognitive performance of breast cancer patients.

© The Author(s)., [Background]: Survival in cancer patients has increased exponentially in recent years, with multiple side effects caused by treatments. Cancer-related asthenia and dyspnea are among them, which represent a serious health problem, with considerable limitations and reduced quality of life. An implementation of the conventional clinical practice, developed through physical exercise, may be useful in controlling dyspnoea. This study aims to compare the effects of a comprehensive rehabilitation implementing a programme of multimodal physical exercise with a specific autonomy recovery programme, versus an isolated intervention using the physical exercise programme alone, on the functionality, physical performance and respiratory parameters in oncologycal patients with dyspnea. [Methods]: This is a protocol por an experimental, prospective, randomized, parallel-controlled clinical trial, with two arms design of fixed assignment with an experimental and control groups. It will conduct in the Oncology Hospitalisation Unit at the University Hospital Complex of Salamanca, using consecutive sampling to select 50 participants with oncological dyspnoea who are hospitalised at the time of inclusion. After baseline assessment, participants will be randomised into the groups. Experimental group will complete Comprehensive Rehabilitation with the autonomy recovery and the multimodal exercise programmes, and in the control group, only the multimodal exercise programme will be carried out. The primary outcomes will be basic activities of daily living (Barthel Index) and degree of dyspnoea (MRC scale). Additionally, physical performance will be evaluated with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), as will the oxygen saturation in the blood using pulse oximetry, fear/avoidance of movement with the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), and the quality of life of the oncology patient (ECOG performance scale). [Discussion]: The results of this study may be translated to clinical practice, incorporating a specific autonomy recovery programme into comprehensive rehabilitation programmes of care for cancer patients with dyspnoea. Increase in the survival of patients with cancer includes multiple side effects as cancer-related asthenia and dyspnea, which represents a serious health problem. The current study addresses to improve the conventional clinical practice by proposing an integral, rehabilitative approach, to implement education and training for oncology patients with dyspnea to increase their quality of life.