Disparities Among Racial, Ethnic Groups for Lung Cancer Screening Discussions

Lung cancer screening (LCS) discussions are not happening as often as they could be among health care providers and people who are current or former smokers, especially those of certain races and ethnicities. A study, led by Young-Rock Hong, PhD, MPH, analyzed data from the Health Information National Trends Survey from 2014 to 2020.

The research team investigated racial and ethnic disparities on the trends and frequency of LCS in the United States. Eligibility requirements for LCS included being 55 to 80 years of age and a current or former smoker.

The study showed that among 2136 participants, 12.9% had discussed LCS with a provider in the past year. In addition, disparities in racial and ethnic groups were seen. In the non-Hispanic White group, LCS was discussed with only 12.3% of people compared with 14.1% in the Hispanic group and 15.3% in the non-Hispanic Black group.

Over time, the researchers saw a significant increase of discussions with non-Hispanic Black people (10.1% in 2014 to 22.1% in 2020) and non-Hispanic White people (8.5% in 2014 to 14.0% in 2020).

Adjusted analyses found that non-Hispanic Black people were most likely to have LCS discussions with their provider than those from other racial and ethnic groups. “There is a need for more research to clarify the discordance between LCS discussions and the actual screening uptake in this population,” the researchers said.