title: Pilot study on use of home telephoning to identify and recruit high-risk individuals for lung cancer screening.
abstract: Widespread lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography is urgently needed in Europe to identify lung cancers early and reduce lung cancer deaths. The most effective method of identifying high-risk individuals and recruiting them for screening has not been determined. In the present pilot study we investigated direct telephoning to families as a way of identifying high risk individuals and recruiting them to a screening/smoking cessation program, that avoided the selection bias of voluntary screening. Families in the province of Milan, Italy, were contacted by telephone at their homes and asked about family members over 50 years who were heavy smokers (30 or more pack-years). Persons meeting these criteria were contacted and asked to participate in the program. Those who agreed were given an appointment to undergo screening and receive smoking cessation counseling. Among the 1000 contacted families, involving 2300 persons, 44 (1.9%) were eligible for LDCT screening, and 12 (27%) of these participated in the program. The cost of this recruitment strategy pilot study was around 150 euro per screened subject. We obtained useful information on the proportion of the general population eligible for lung cancer screening and the proportion of those who responded. However the cost of home telephone calling is probably too high to be practicable as a method of recruiting high risk persons for screening. Alternative recruitment methods, possibly involving family physicians practitioners, need to be investigated.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy. Electronic address: giulia.veronesi@cancercenter.humanitas.it.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Veronesi
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, Doxa, Via Panizza 7, 20144 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Novellis
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crepaldi
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiology, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Romano Fabio
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Lutman
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dieci
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiology, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Profili
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Licia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Siracusano
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Humanitas Cancer Center, Rozzano, MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alloisio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007558:Italy; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods
keywords: Low-dose computed tomography; Lung cancer; Recruitment; Screening; Smoking cessation; Telephone contact