Worry About the Future Health Issues of Smoking and Intention to Screen for Lung Cancer With Low-Dose Computed Tomography.
Hermine Poghosyan, Susan Mello, Kathryn N Robinson and 1 others
PMID 34870941WHAT IT FOUND
Among 152 eligible adult smokers, those moderately or very worried about future smoking-related health problems were more likely to say they would undergo low-dose CT lung cancer screening if recommended.
Key findings
01Adults who were moderately or very worried about future health issues from past smoking had higher odds of reporting intention to undergo recommended lung cancer screening within the next three months (OR 6.2; 95% CI 1.3-29.6).
02Most participants (86.0%) reported intention to undergo recommended lung cancer screening with low-dose CT in the next 3 months.
03Men were 7.4 times more likely than women to report intention to undergo lung cancer screening (95% CI 1.4-39.9).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used a cross-sectional online survey, so it cannot show that worry caused screening intention. The outcome was self-reported intention to screen, not actual low-dose CT screening. Only 152 adults were analysed after exclusions, and 821 of 4,355 invited panelists completed the survey, so the sample was small and selected. Worry was measured with one item, and all variables were self-reported, so response bias is possible. Sampling was non-probability based, so results may not generalise. Data were collected at one time point, so intention could have influenced reported worry.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. Participants were reimbursed by Qualtrics.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the worry association as proof that asking about worry will make patients screen. The study measured self-reported intention in 152 adults at one time point, not actual screening behaviour.