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E. Folefac
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P2.06 - Poster Session/ Screening and Early Detection (ID 219)
- Event: WCLC 2015
- Type: Poster
- Track: Screening and Early Detection
- Presentations: 1
- Moderators:
- Coordinates: 9/08/2015, 09:30 - 17:00, Exhibit Hall (Hall B+C)
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P2.06-004 - Lung Cancer Screening Perceptions in Vermont (ID 2929)
09:30 - 09:30 | Author(s): E. Folefac
- Abstract
Background:
In 2014 the University of Vermont Cancer Center obtained accreditation for the new Lung Cancer Screening Program from the American College of Radiology. During the first 6 months of the LDCT screening program, there were 100 participants in the program. Patient understanding of lung cancer screening did not seem to be clear.
Methods:
We conducted a preliminary survey to define the perceptions of the first 76 participants enrolled in the program. A 30 question questionnaire was done by telephone survey. Descriptive statistics were used.
Results:
Thirty-six participants (47%) responded to the survey. Referral of the majority of participants was done by less than primary care providers. 32Participants did not know about the program before they were told by their doctor. Although 92% of respondents knew they had a “lung X-Ray” done, 14% did not know why the test was done and only 28% knew they had undergone a LDCT of the lungs. All 36 patients knew they had received the results of the test and 26 (72%) had a follow-up appointment with their provider. Fourteen percent had further testing and 3 were diagnosed with early stage lung cancer. Only 25% received education material on lung cancer screening program. Eleven participants (30%) would have liked more information. Interestingly, 45% were not interested. Twenty-two percent incurred additional expenditure from $10 to $1200. Over 90% of the participants would agree to refer a family member to the program if this was an option. Most patients (75%) reported that the test did not affect their mood. The highest level of anxiety was in those who were diagnosed with cancer. Of the current smokers (N=20), only 17 (85%) were counseled to quit smoking. Of the 17 participants who received counseling, 9 followed the advice and sought help to quit, 2 did decrease smoking, and 7 did not follow the advice. Over 97% of patients (35/36) wanted to know what other anomalies were diagnosed on the LDCT. Interestingly, these 35 patients thought they would be more likely to quit if they had a better understanding of the damage done by tobacco.
Conclusion:
LDCT scan is an effective tool to diagnose early stage lung cancer and does not affect the mood of the majority of the participant, but it is still much underutilized mainly because of the knowledge gap among providers responsible for educating and referring at-risk patients. Most of the participants were satisfied with the program but there is a need to better educate the public and primary providers about the purpose of the study and the importance of smoking cessation. Finally showing participants the LDCT images of their lungs and counseling them about tobacco related changes in their lungs found during screening can be a power tool to help them quit smoking.
