The following is a summary of “Barriers to Completing Low-Dose Computed Tomography Scan for Lung Cancer Screening,” published in the April 2024 issue of Pulmonology by Wong et al.

Annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening has been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality in high-risk individuals by detecting the disease at an earlier stage. This study assesses the barriers to completing LDCT in a cohort of patients eligible for lung cancer screening (LCS).

Researchers conducted a single-institution, mixed-methods, cross-sectional study of patients with LDCT ordered between July and December 2022. Subsequently, investigators conducted phone surveys with patients who did not complete LDCT to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions toward LCS.

Among the 380 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 331 (87%) completed LDCT, while 49 (13%) did not. Patients who completed LDCT and those who did not were similar in demographics. Positive predictors of LDCT completion included meeting USPSTF guidelines (97.9% vs. 81.6%), being married (58.3% vs. 44.9%), former versus current smokers (55% vs. 41.7%), personal history of emphysema (60.4% vs. 42.9%), and family history of lung cancer (13.9% vs. 4.1%) (all p < 0.05). Phone survey findings indicated that only 7% of respondents considered themselves at high risk for lung cancer despite attending shared decision-making visits, and only 10% expressed interest in rescheduling LDCT.

Barriers to completing LDCT persist even after patients are deemed eligible and undergo shared decision-making visits, attributed to knowledge gaps, misperceptions, and patient disinterest.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525730424000706