Investigating the rate of return to work in low-grade glioma patients

Low-grade glioma (LGG) brain tumours can devastate all areas of a patient’s life. However, life expectancy is now greater than 15 years from diagnosis due to improvements in diagnosis, surgery and treatment. Therefore, clinical focus must shift from being solely treatment-orientated to promoting a rich quality of life for patients upon completion of oncology treatment (QoL). Returning to work (RTW) has shown to improve QoL in brain tumour patients. However, there is a lack of research specific to LGG patients experience of RTW. The present study investigated the rate of RTW in LGG patients and the potential barriers patients may face in their RTW. LGG patients (n = 47) responded to an online questionnaire which was issued via charity e-newsletters. Demographics, employment status information and opinions on clinical services, for example, vocational rehabilitation (VR), were collected. Participants reported their perceived level of cognitive functioning (e.g., memory, attention and executive function) now compared to before their diagnosis on a 14 item four-point Likert scale (better - significantly worse). Over a third of participants (40.4%) had not RTW, with the majority (68.4%) desiring to do so. Only seven participants had received VR. LGG symptoms and travelling to the workplace were barriers for RTW. Non-parametric tests revealed there was a significant difference in self-reported memory function between the RTW and no RTW group (p = .018). The findings indicate a need for improvement and increased availability of clinical services, particularly cognitive testing and VR, to facilitate a successful RTW in LGG patients.