The impact of COVID-19 on oncology professionals-one year on: lessons learned from the ESMO Resilience Task Force survey series.

Background: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the well-being and job performance of oncology professionals globally. The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Resilience Task Force collaboration set out to investigate and monitor well-being since COVID-19 in relation to work, lifestyle and support factors in oncology professionals 1 year on since the start of the pandemic.
Methods: An online, anonymous survey was conducted in February/March 2021 (Survey III). Key outcome variables included risk of poor well-being or distress (expanded Well-Being Index), feeling burnout (single item from expanded Well-Being Index), and job performance since COVID-19. Longitudinal analysis of responses to the series of three surveys since COVID-19 was carried out, and responses to job demands and resources questions were interrogated. SPSS V.26.0/V.27.0 and GraphPad Prism V9.0 were used for statistical analyses.
Results: Responses from 1269 participants from 104 countries were analysed in Survey III: 55% (n = 699/1269) female, 54% (n = 686/1269) >40 years, and 69% (n = 852/1230) of white ethnicity. There continues to be an increased risk of poor well-being or distress (n = 464/1169, 40%) and feeling burnout (n = 660/1169, 57%) compared with Survey I (25% and 38% respectively, P < 0.0001), despite improved job performance. Compared with the initial period of the pandemic, more participants report feeling overwhelmed with workload (45% versus 29%, P < 0.0001). There remain concerns about the negative impact of the pandemic on career development/training (43%), job security (37%). and international fellowship opportunities (76%). Alarmingly, 25% (n = 266/1086) are considering changing their future career with 38% (n = 100/266) contemplating leaving the profession.
Conclusion: Oncology professionals continue to face increased job demands. There is now significant concern regarding potential attrition in the oncology workforce. National and international stakeholders must act immediately and work closely with oncology professionals to draw up future-proof recovery plans.
Competing Interests: Disclosure KHJL is currently funded by the Wellcome-Imperial 4i Clinical Research Fellowship, and reports speaker honorarium from Janssen, outside the submitted work. KP’s institution received speaker fees or honoraria for consultancy/advisory roles from AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, Medscape, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Hoffmann La Roche, Mundipharma, PharmaMar, Seagen, Teva, and Vifor Pharma; KP’s institution received research grants from MSD and Sanofi; KP received travel support from AstraZeneca, Novartis, Pfizer, PharmaMar, and Roche; all outside the submitted work. CO reports research funding and honoraria from Roche; travel grant and honoraria from medac Pharma and Ipsen Pharma; and travel grant from PharmaMar; outside the submitted work. EÉ reports speaker honoraria, travel support and advisory board: Bayer, Roche, Servier, Amgen, Pierre-Fabre, Sanofi Aventis, MSD, and Merck Serono; outside the submitted work. TA reports personal fees from Pierre Fabre and CeCaVa; personal fees and travel grants from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS); grants, personal fees, and travel grants from Novartis; and grants from NeraCare, Sanofi, and SkylineDx; all outside the submitted work. PG reports personal fees from Roche, MSD, BMS, Boerhinger-Ingelheim, Pfizer, AbbVie, Novartis, Lilly, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Blueprint Medicines, Takeda, Gilead, and ROVI, outside the submitted work. ML acted as a consultant for Roche, AstraZeneca, Lilly, and Novartis, and received honoraria from Theramex, Roche, Novartis, Takeda, Pfizer, Sandoz, and Lilly, outside the submitted work. CBW reports speaker honoraria, travel support, and participation in advisory boards: Bayer, BMS, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Merck, Rafael, RedHil, Roche, Servier, Shire/Baxalta, Sirtex, and Taiho, as well as research support from Roche, outside the submitted work. JBAGH reports personal fees for advisory role in Neogene Tx; grants and fees paid to institution from BMS, MSD, Novartis, BioNTech, Amgen; and fees paid to institution from Achilles Tx, GSK, Immunocore, Ipsen, Merck Serono, Molecular Partners, Pfizer, Roche/Genentech, Sanofi, Seattle Genetics, Third Rock Ventures, Vaximm; outside the submitted work. CH reports being Director of a private company Hardy People Ltd, outside the submitted work. SB reports research grant (institution) from AstraZeneca, Tesaro, and GSK; honoraria for advisory boards or lectures from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Genmab, Immunogen, Mersana, MSD, Merck Serono, OncXerna, Pfizer, Roche, Shattuck Labs, Clovis, Takeda outside the submitted work. KM, KK, MOC, ET, BD, and GM have declared no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)