An Enhanced Shared Decision Making Model to Address Willingness and Ability to Undergo Lung Cancer Screening and Follow-Up Treatment in Minority Underserved Populations.

Failure to address willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer treatment before lung cancer screening could cause patients unnecessary anxiety, cost and care. We employed an enhanced shared decision making (SDM) model to address willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer screening of low dose CT (LDCT) scanning. We hypothesized that enhanced SDM was feasible and did not discourage patients from undergoing lung cancer screening. We performed a prospective study of patients referred for lung cancer screening. We measured adherence to the LCS protocol, including consent to discuss lung cancer treatment if cancer is found and direct questions to patients about willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer treatment. We measured race, gender, adherence to the consent process and questions regarding willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer treatment and subsequent uptake of LDCT. All 190 patients have a documented SDM visit addressing the risks and benefits of lung cancer screening and consented to discuss lung cancer treatment if lung cancer is diagnosed. One hundred and seventy-nine (179) of 190 (94%) answered yes to being willing and able to undergo lung cancer treatment. One hundred and eighty-seven (187) patients underwent LDCT (98.4%). Discussion about willingness and ability to undergo lung cancer treatment should be an essential component of a SDM discussion prior to LDCT. This study demonstrated that an enhanced SDM experience is feasible in a clinical setting. Furthermore, patients proceeded with LDCT following the enhanced SDM process.