Researchers have created a publicly available dataset that maps U.S. adults eligible for low-dose CT (LDCT) lung cancer screening down to the neighborhood level, according to a study published October 9 in Cancer.
The dataset fills a gap in the local geographic data needed to direct screening resources, noted a group from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
“This work fills a critical gap in the literature by providing enhanced estimates of [people who continue to smoke] PWS and [people who formerly smoked] PWFS eligible for [lung cancer screening] using the current 20-year pack history,” wrote lead author David Haynes, PhD, and colleagues.
Uptake of lung cancer screening (LCS) remains below 20% of eligible individuals, with eligibility barriers playing a significant role, the group wrote. Determining eligibility requires a quantitative smoking history (a minimum of 20 pack-years of cigarette exposure) that is often missing from clinical records and absent in large health survey datasets, they added.
To address the gap, the group integrated three datasets: the 2016–2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for state-level smoking prevalence; the 2016–2020 American Community Survey data for census tract-level demographic counts; and the CISNET Lung Working Group Smoking History Generator, a simulation tool that models birth cohort-specific pack-year smoking histories by age, sex, and race/ethnicity.
The publicly available dataset enables researchers to estimate the population eligible for lung cancer screening at the census tract level. Additionally, the approach permits exploration and description of the eligible population by age, sex, racial/ethnic groups, and current or former smoking status.
Largest and priority populations by county of those who are LCS eligible. LCS indicates lung cancer screening.CancerApplying the approach to the 2020 census, the researchers estimated that approximately 26.4 million U.S. adults aged 50 to 80 meet LCS eligibility criteria. More than half (16.1 million) continue to smoke, while 10.3 million are former smokers. American Indian and Alaska Native adults have the highest proportion eligible at 34%, compared with roughly 25% for white and Black Americans in the same age range, the group reported.
“Specific applications of this work include planning service locations and the capacity of LCS services, including low-dose computed tomography and smoking cessation resources. Other efforts could use these data to identify geographic areas or particular populations to direct marketing and resources about LCS services. Last, the dataset provides a useful foundation for estimating the uptake of LCS screening services at the national and local levels,” the group concluded.
The full study is available here.
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