Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rural populations face many health disadvantages including higher rates of tobacco use and lung cancer than more populated areas. Given this, we specifically sought to understand the current screening landscape in a cohort of patients with resected lung cancer to help direct improvements in the screening process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed our prospective database at a rural, quaternary, academic institution from January 2015 to June 2018. All patients who underwent resection for primary lung cancer were studied to assess the frequency of preoperative low-dose chest computed tomography per accepted guidelines. The intent was to evaluate participant demographics, clinical stage, frequency, and distribution of Lung-RADS reporting. RESULTS: About 446 patients underwent primary resection, of which 252 were deemed screening-eligible. About 57 (22.6%) underwent low-dose chest computed tomography screening and 195 (77.4%) did not. No significant demographic differences were identified between groups. However, 82.5% (47/57) of the screened patients presented with clinical stage IA disease, compared with 67.1% (131/195) of the nonscreened patients (P = 0.03). Among those screened, 36.8% (21/57) did not have a Lung-RADS score documented despite 52.3% (11/21) of those coming from accredited programs. CONCLUSIONS: Our screening completion rate was only 22.6% of eligible patients and 36.8% of those patients did not have a documented Lung-RADS score. These findings, in combination with the increased rate of diagnosis of stage IA disease, provide compelling reasons to further investigate factors designed to improve access and screening practices at rural institutions.