Ocena delazmožnosti onkoloških bolnikov – pogled specialista družinske medicine in specialista medicine dela, prometa in športa

Cancer is among the most common diseases of our time. Each year, about 13.500 people get cancer in Slovenia. The risk of disease increases with age. There are about 100.000 cancer survivors living in Slovenia, meaning cancer can no longer be considered a mortal disease but rather a chronic illness. Population aging and the prolonging length of service put us before a dilemma whether work is harmful or beneficial to a cancer patient. Work is often viewed as an important component of one's self-esteem, a source of social support, and a means of financial income. As work remains a goal for some patients, it requires direct attention by the providers of treatment and rehabilitation. Assessing work ability in cancer survivors is often difficult for a physician because they must decide between the available objective medical records and the individual's perception of and expectations for the disease.Rak spada med najpogostejše bolezni našega časa. V Sloveniji vsako leto zboli za rakom že okoli 13.500 ljudi . S starostjo se nevarnost bolezni povečuje. Toda, ne pozabimo, med nami živi okoli sto tisoč bolnikov in bolnic z rakom, kar pomeni, da rak ni več smrtna, ampak kronična bolezen. Prav staranje prebivalstva in podaljševanje delovne dobe pa nas postavljata pred pomembno dilemo o tem, ali je delo za »onkološkega« bolnika škodljivo ali pa morda celo koristno. Delo lahko človeku predstavlja pomemben del samospoštovanja, mu nudi socialno okolje in finančni zaslužek, kar je treba upoštevati pri načrtovanju zdravljenja in rehabilitacije. Ocenjevanje delazmožnosti bolnika, ki je prebolel raka, je za zdravnika pogosto težavno, saj se mora odločati med dostopnimi objektivnimi medicinskimi izvidi in posameznikovim osebnim doživljanjem bolezni ter njegovimi pričakovanji