Socioeconomic impact of Hodgkin lymphoma in adult patients: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Hodgkin lymphoma is a highly curable disease with a peak incidence in young adulthood at times where education, family, and social relations are established. We performed a systematic literature review to assess the impact of Hodgkin lymphoma on the socioeconomic status of adolescent and adult survivors (including educational achievements, occupational aspects, marriage, and parenthood). In total, 39 articles were included. Overall, 26–36% of survivors perceived Hodgkin lymphoma as negatively affecting their socioeconomic status. Studies consistently found educational achievements in line with general population. Employment rates for survivors were comparable to the general population, but lower than before Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, with a post-diagnosis increase in disability pension and early retirement. Employed survivors encountered problems related to physical restrictions and recruitment. Marriage and parenthood were not substantially affected. In conclusion, current studies suggest acceptable socioeconomic outcomes following a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis but the use of standardized reporting methods hampers comparability across studies.

Keywords:

• Hodgkin lymphoma
• socioeconomic impact
• survivorship
• late complications
• fertility

Potential conflict of interest

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10428194.2019.1613538.