Abstract
Objective
Although sociocognitive impairment is linked to failure of occupational reintegration in other clinical populations, less is known on the association of sociocognitive functioning and occupational reintegration in brain tumor patients such as primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL).
Methods
Twenty PCNSL patients with ongoing complete response to therapy for at least one year were evaluated of whom eight resumed work. The association between occupational status, empathy, alexithymia and social problem solving was analyzed.
Results
Employed and non-employed patients were significantly different in their ability to provide appropriate solutions for social situations even when accounting for neurocognition. Decreased quality of life was associated with sociocognitive impairment.
Conclusions
Although the results must be replicated in larger, more representative populations, this exploratory analysis tentatively adds facets to the literature on occupational reintegration in brain tumor patients. Forthcoming psychosocial research and clinical practice may target sociocognitive impairment when addressing reintegration after neuro-oncological treatment.
Statements and declarations
Authors’ contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Milena Pertz. Data collection of a subset was done by Greta Wiemann. Patient recruitment was supported by Thomas Kowalski and Sabine Seidel. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Milena Pertz and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Consent to participate
Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the studies.
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author [M.P.] upon reasonable request.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Ethics approval
All procedures performed in the studies were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee (local ethics board of the medical faculty, Ruhr University Bochum, reference number 17-6238-BR and 18-6386) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.