Employment in French young adult survivors of childhood leukemia: an LEA study (for Leucemies de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent-childhood and adolescent leukemia)

Our principal aim was to assess the occupational outcomes of French ă survivors of childhood leukemia, compared to national population. The ă secondary objective was to identify determinants linked with employment ă stability after childhood leukemia. ă All survivors aged 15 and over enrolled in the French LEA Cohort ă (Childhood and Adolescent Leukemia) were included. Occupational data ă were self-reported. The occupational distributions expected in the ă cohort for each age range were established based on the distribution in ă France as reference, and comparisons between observed and expected ă distributions were performed. Logistic regression model was used to ă explore determinants of stability of survivors' employment. ă The questionnaire was completed by 845 eligible survivors (response rate ă 87.8 %), with a mean age of 22.3 +/- 5.4 years and a mean follow-up ă duration of 14.3 +/- 6.3 years. Among the 361 survivors currently in the ă labor market, 36 (10.0 %) were seeking a job, which is significantly ă lower than expected (19.3 %) compared to French population. Conversely, ă among those currently employed, the number of survivors in unstable ă employment (43.9 %) was significantly higher than expected (33.5 %). ă Younger age and higher number of late effects were risk factors for ă unstable employment. ă While the employment rate of the young French adult population of ă childhood leukemia survivors seems rather positive, access to a steady ă job appears to be compromised for some survivors. ă A strategy to better identify particular subgroups of survivors at ă greatest risk for difficulties in their professional achievement will ă help ensure the development of specific intervention strategies and ă support procedures.