Incorporating Veterans' Preferences Into Lung Cancer Screening Decisions

Veterans have a high risk of developing lung in comparison to general populations due to their older age and smoking history. Recent evidence indicates that lung cancer screening with low dose CT scan reduces lung cancer mortality among older heavy smokers. However, the rates of false positive findings are high, requiring further testing and evaluation. The aims of this study were to 1) elicit patient and provider stakeholder input to inform the development of a lung cancer screening decision tool, 2) develop a web-based Lung Cancer Screening Decision Tool (LCSDecTool) that incorporates patient and provider input, and 3) conduct a RCT to evaluate LCSDecTool compared to usual care knowledge about LCS, decisional conflict and uptake of LCS. The investigators hypothesized that the use of the LCSDecTool would decrease decisional conflict at 1 month. As a secondary outcome the investigators hypothesized that there would be a decrease in uptake of LCS in the LCDDecTool group compared with the control intervention due to increased awareness of harms associated with LCS. Additional secondary outcomes were LCS knowledge, decisional regret, anxiety, and lung cancer worry. Veterans who were receiving primary care in a participating VA Medical Center, aged 55 to 80 years with a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years who were current smokers or had quit within the past 15 years were eligible to participate in the study. Participants were asked to link on to a study website and were randomly assigned to the LCSDecTool or a control intervention website. Following use of the intervention, participants had a primary care visit. Patient reported outcomes were assessed immediately post intervention and at 1 and 3-months post intervention. LCS uptake was assessed at 6 months post-intervention.