Open retropubic prostatectomy versus robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: A comparison of length of sick leave

Figures & data

Table I.  Descriptive characteristics of the two comparison groups undergoing radical prostatectomy.

	RRP (n=147)	RALP (n=127)
Patients included, n (%)
Skejby	39 (26.6)	18 (14.2)
Karolinska	108 (73.4)	109 (85.8)
Age (years), mean (range)	58 (42–63)	57.9 (43–64)
PSA (ng/ml), mean (range)	11.7 (0.4–60)	7.7 (0.8–38)
Gleason score preoperative, n (%)
2–6	98 (67.6)	81 (64.8)
7–10	47 (32.4)	44 (35.2)
Clinical T stage, n (%)
T1	85 (57.8)	77 (61.1)
T2 + T3	62 (42.8)	49 (38.9)
BMI (kg/m^2), mean (range)	26.9 (19.8–44.9)	25.9 (20.1–34.8)
BMI, n (%)
< 25 kg/m^2	39 (26.5)	47 (37.0)
25–29 kg/m^2	84 (57.2)	71 (55.9)
≥ 30 kg/m^2	24 (16.3)	9 (7.1)
Physical workload,^an (%)
Low	77 (54.2)	89 (72.4)
Medium	34 (24.0)	16 (13.0)
High	31 (21.8)	18 (14.6)
Average monthly salary (€), tertiles, n (%)
2010–2801	59 (39.7)	31 (25.4)
2833–3538	43 (30.5)	43 (35.3)
3535–6820	42 (29.8)	48 (39.3)
Hospital stay (nights), median (range)	3 (1–9)	1 (1–13)
Sick pay (days), median (range)	49 (0–365)	11 (0–355)

RRP = radical retropubic prostatectomy; RALP = robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy; Skejby = Aarhus University Hospital Skejby; Karolinska = Karolinska University Hospital; PSA = prostate-specific antigen; BMI = body mass index.

^a Physical workload: low = pull/push; medium = lifting over 10 kg a minimum 1/4 of the time; high = physically strenuous work and lifting over 10 kg a minimum 1/4 of the time.

Figure 1.  Kaplan–Meier plot estimates time (days) of returning to work after radical prostatectomy for two different groups of patients: for the entire study population (All) and stratified by centre. RALP = robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy; RRP = radical retropubic prostatectomy; Skejby = Aarhus University Hospital Skejby; Karolinska = Karolinska University Hospital.

Table II.  Cox proportional hazards regression, stratified by centre.

	Crude HR	95% CI	Adjusted HR	95% CI	p^a
Type of operation	2.11	1.64–2.70
RRP			1.00	Referent
RALP			2.13	1.62–2.80	< 0.001
Age	1.01	0.98–1.04	1.01	0.97–1.04	0.891
Gleason score preoperative, n (%)	0.82	0.63–1.06
2–6			1.00	Referent
7–10			0.81	0.60–1.10	0.241
Clinical T stage, n (%)	0.68	0.53–0.87
T1			1.00	Referent
T2 + T3			0.67	0.50–0.89	0.005
BMI	0.93	0.77–1.13
< 25 kg/m^2			1.00	Referent
25–29 kg/m^2			1.15	0.86–1.55
≥ 30 kg/m^2			1.25	0.80–1.94	0.689
Physical workload	0.70	0.59–0.82
Low			1.00	Referent
Medium			0.84	0.59–1.19
High			0.57	0.40–0.82	0.001
Average monthly salary (€)	1.32	1.13–1.53
2010–2801			1.00	Referent
2833–3538			1.27	0.90–1.78
3635–6820			1.44	1.02–2.03	0.112

The crude and adjusted hazard ratio (HR) estimates the hazard of returning to work after radical prostatectomy at any time between different exposure groups.

RRP = radical retropubic prostatectomy; CI = confidence interval; RALP = robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy; BMI = body mass index.

^a Test for trend.

^b Physical workload: low = pull/push; medium = lifting over 10 kg a minimum 1/4 of the time; high = physically strenuous work and lifting over 10 kg a minimum 1/4 of the time.

Table III.  Unadjusted risk ratio of returning to work in separate follow-up strata for patients operated on with robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy compared with patients operated on with radical retropubic prostatectomy.

	Estimate	95% CI
Crude HR	2.11	1.64–2.70
Risk ratio
0–5 weeks	2.56	1.94–3.38
6–12 weeks	0.97	0.70–1.33
13–24 weeks	1.34	0.92–1.95
> 24 weeks	1.31	1.00–1.70 ^a

CI = confidence interval; HR = hazard ratio.

^aApproximate CI.