Improves patient knowledge of eligibility criteria, benefits, harms of screening with low-dose CT
MONDAY, March 20, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A centralized counseling and shared decision-making visit correlates with improvement in patient knowledge about eligibility criteria, benefits, and harms of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening, according to a study published in the March issue of CHEST.
Peter J. Mazzone, M.D., M.P.H., from the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues developed a centralized counseling and shared decision-making visit for a lung cancer screening program, which included confirmation of eligibility for screening, education, individualized risk assessment, time for questions, and data collection. Patients were surveyed before, immediately after, and at one month after the visit.
The researchers found that 5.4 percent of the 423 patients who had a visit did not proceed to CT screening. Overall, 125, 122, and 113 patients completed the initial, post-visit, and follow-up surveys, respectively. Patients had a poor level of understanding about the age and smoking eligibility criteria before the visit (8.8 and 13.6 percent correct, respectively) and about the benefits and harms of screening (55.2 and 38.4 percent correct, respectively). After the visit there was a significant improvement in knowledge for all questions (P = 0.03 to P < 0.0001). By the one-month follow-up, knowledge had waned, but it remained higher than before the visit.
“A centralized counseling and shared decision-making visit impacts the patient’s knowledge about the eligibility criteria, benefits, and harms of lung cancer screening with LDCT, helping patients make value-based decisions,” the authors write.
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