Lung Cancer Screening Eligibility Assessment

Despite growing evidence that lung cancer screening (LCS) reduces lung cancer-specific mortality, LCS across the United States is remarkably low. This is due in part to challenges with identifying adults who meet eligibility criteria for lifetime smoking intensity (i.e., 20 pack-years or greater), which is often missing from the electronic medical record. We have developed a simplified eligibility tool that has shown accuracy in estimating pack-years. But given the potential for low response rates, there is a great need to identify effective strategies to increasing response rates equitably prior to using it in practice or in future studies. The primary purpose of this study evaluate if different messaging impacts response rates to a brief survey (i.e., the simplified eligibility tool) that is designed to estimate pack-year eligibility for lung cancer screening (LCS). This will help to identify the best way to increase response rates to the tool in future intervention studies designed to increase LCS, and expand upon survey methodology in general.

Inclusion criteria

• meet age eligibility (50-80 years old) for LCS based on 2021 USPSTF guidelines; and
• have completed at least one primary care visit at Penn Medicine in 2020-2025

Exclusion criteria

• have a documented history of lung cancer;
• have a documented history of completing LCS at Penn Medicine;
• are listed as not wanting to be contacted or solicited for research; or
• do not otherwise meet inclusion criteria.