Experiences of positive encounters with healthcare professionals among women on long-term sickness absence due to breast cancer or due to other diagnoses: a nationwide survey.

M Söderman, A Wennman-Larsen, K Alexanderson, E Friberg

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

5citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

Prognostic factors for return to work in breast cancer survivors.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
Pooled it
Interventions regarding physicians' sickness certification practice - a systematic literature review with meta-analyses.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022
Pooled it
Supporting participation in paid work of cancer survivors and their partners in the Netherlands: protocol of the SusTained Employability in cancer Patients and their partnerS (STEPS) multi-centre randomized controlled trial and cohort study.BMC public health · 2021
Article
Factors of decisive importance for being in work or not during two years after breast cancer surgery: content analysis of 462 women's open answers.BMC women's health · 2021
Review
Cancer survivors' experiences with conversations about work-related issues in the hospital setting.Psycho-oncology · 2021
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

M SödermanDivision of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. mirkka.soderman@ki.se.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5391-623X

A Wennman-LarsenDivision of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.

K AlexandersonDivision of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.

E FribergDivision of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExperiences of encounters with professionals have been shown to influence return to work (RTW) among sickness absentees in general. The aim was to gain knowledge on experiences of encounters with healthcare professionals and the ability to RTW among women on long-term sickness absence (SA) due to breast cancer (BC) compared to among women on long-term SA due to other diagnoses.

methodsAnalyses of questionnaire data about experiences of encounters with healthcare professionals among 6197 women aged 19-65 years and on a SA spell lasting 4-8 months. Of those, 187 were on SA due to BC. Descriptive statistics and adjusted (for age, birth country, educational level, depressive symptoms) logistic regression analyses with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were conducted.

resultsAbout 95% in both groups of women stated that they had experienced positive encounters with healthcare, and a minority, about 20%, had experienced negative encounters. Four specific types of positive encounters had been experienced to a lesser extent by women with BC: "allowed me to take own responsibility" (odds ratio (OR) 0.6; 95% CI 0.4-0.8), "encouraged me to carry through my own solutions" (OR 0.5; 95% CI 0.4-0.7), "made reasonably high demands" (OR 0.6; 95% CI 0.4-0.9), and "sided with me/stood on my side" (OR 0.6; 95% CI 0.4-0.8). Among the women with BC, 46% stated that positive encounters promoted their ability to RTW compared to 56% among the others.

conclusionMost of the women had experienced positive encounters and about half stated that positive encounters promoted their ability to RTW, although a slightly smaller proportion of the women with BC stated that. This study emphasizes that not only medical treatment but also encounters may influence the ability to RTW, something that is of clinical importance.

Indexed as

AbsenteeismAttitude to HealthProfessional-Patient RelationsAdultAgedBreast NeoplasmsFemaleHumansMiddle AgedReturn to WorkSick LeaveSurveys and QuestionnairesSwedenTime FactorsYoung AdultBreast cancerEncounterReturn to workSick leave

Identifiers

PMID30922280

DOI10.1186/s12889-019-6666-8

PMCPMC6440120

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.