TY - JOUR
T1 - Feasibility of Single - Encounter Telemedicine Lung Cancer Screening
T2 - A Retrospective Cohort Study in an Underserved Population
AU - Magarinos, Jessica
AU - Lutzow, Lynde
AU - Dass, Chandra
AU - Ma, Grace X.
AU - Erkmen, Cherie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/1/1
Y1 - 2023/1/1
N2 - Background: COVID-19 forced a delay of non-essential health services, including lung cancer screening. Our institution developed a single-encounter, telemedicine (SET) lung cancer screening whereby patients receive low-dose CT in-person, but counseling regarding results, coordination of follow-up care and smoking cessation is delivered using telemedicine. This study compares outcomes of SET lung cancer screening to our pre-COVID, single-visit, in-person (SIP) lung cancer screening. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed we recorded independent variables of gender, race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, smoking status and dependent variables including cancer diagnosis, stage and treatment between March 2019 to July 2021. Using retrospective analysis, we compared outcomes of SIP lung cancer screening before COVID-19 and SET lung cancer screening amid COVID-19. Results: There was a significant difference in number of patients screened pre- and amid COVID-19.673 people were screened via SIP, while only 440 were screened via SET. SIP screening consisted of 52.5% Black/African American patients, which decreased to 37% with SET lung cancer screening. There was no significant difference in gender, age, or educational attainment. There was also no significant difference in Lung–RADS score between the 2 methods of screening or diagnostic procedures performed. Ultimately telemedicine based screening diagnosed fewer cancers, 1.6% diagnosed via telemedicine vs 3.3% screened by in person. Conclusion: We implemented SET lung cancer screening to continue lung cancer screening during a global pandemic. Our study established feasibility of telemedicine-based lung cancer screening among our predominantly African American/Black population, though fewer patients were screened. We found no difference in distribution between age, or educational attainment suggesting other factors discouraging lung cancer screening amid COVID-19.
AB - Background: COVID-19 forced a delay of non-essential health services, including lung cancer screening. Our institution developed a single-encounter, telemedicine (SET) lung cancer screening whereby patients receive low-dose CT in-person, but counseling regarding results, coordination of follow-up care and smoking cessation is delivered using telemedicine. This study compares outcomes of SET lung cancer screening to our pre-COVID, single-visit, in-person (SIP) lung cancer screening. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed we recorded independent variables of gender, race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, smoking status and dependent variables including cancer diagnosis, stage and treatment between March 2019 to July 2021. Using retrospective analysis, we compared outcomes of SIP lung cancer screening before COVID-19 and SET lung cancer screening amid COVID-19. Results: There was a significant difference in number of patients screened pre- and amid COVID-19.673 people were screened via SIP, while only 440 were screened via SET. SIP screening consisted of 52.5% Black/African American patients, which decreased to 37% with SET lung cancer screening. There was no significant difference in gender, age, or educational attainment. There was also no significant difference in Lung–RADS score between the 2 methods of screening or diagnostic procedures performed. Ultimately telemedicine based screening diagnosed fewer cancers, 1.6% diagnosed via telemedicine vs 3.3% screened by in person. Conclusion: We implemented SET lung cancer screening to continue lung cancer screening during a global pandemic. Our study established feasibility of telemedicine-based lung cancer screening among our predominantly African American/Black population, though fewer patients were screened. We found no difference in distribution between age, or educational attainment suggesting other factors discouraging lung cancer screening amid COVID-19.
KW - early detection
KW - health care disparities
KW - lung cancer
KW - lung cancer screening
KW - telemedicine
KW - Humans
KW - Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis
KW - Tomography, X-Ray Computed
KW - Vulnerable Populations
KW - COVID-19/diagnosis
KW - Feasibility Studies
KW - Early Detection of Cancer/methods
KW - Telemedicine
KW - Retrospective Studies
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/10732748221121391
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150531549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/10732748221121391
DO - 10.1177/10732748221121391
M3 - Article
C2 - 36935556
SN - 1073-2748
VL - 30
SP - 10732748221121391
JO - Cancer Control
JF - Cancer Control
ER -
