12.5 percent of those meeting USPSTF recommendations for low-dose CT had screening exam in past year
THURSDAY, Feb. 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Of those people in 10 states meeting the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for low-dose lung cancer screening, only 12.5 percent reported having had a screening exam in the past year, according to research published in the Feb. 28 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
In 2013, the USPSTF recommended annual low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening for adults aged 55 to 80 years with a 30 pack-year smoking history and who currently smoke or have quit within the last 15 years. Thomas B. Richards, M.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the prevalence of lung cancer screening by state using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System collected in 2017 by 10 states.
The researchers found that 12.7 percent of adults aged 55 to 80 years met the USPSTF criteria for lung cancer screening. Overall, 12.5 percent of those meeting the criteria reported receiving a CT scan to check for lung cancer in the previous 12 months.
“Public health initiatives to prevent cigarette smoking, increase smoking cessation, and increase lung cancer screening among those who meet USPSTF criteria could help reduce lung cancer mortality,” the authors write. “Efforts to educate health care providers regarding the benefits of lung cancer screening and to provide decision support tools might increase appropriate and timely lung cancer screening.”
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