Community-Based Screening Events to Increase Lung Cancer Screening in an Urban AI/AN Clinic

Abstract: American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in Minnesota have experiences with lung cancer that end in mortality at nearly twice the rate of White Minnesotans. Low dose computed tomography (LDCT) chest scans are potentially lifesaving screening tests which, when used annually, are expected to reduce deaths. However, these lung cancer screenings (LCS) are underutilized in the general population. Moreover, many AI/AN are expected to be eligible for LCS but screening uptake is likely even lower in AI/AN than the general population. We and others have reported barriers to LCS, but solutions to improve LCS rates are elusive. Here, we describe a novel approach to overcome patient-level barriers to LCS through community-based LCS events. We worked with a community clinic serving AI/AN and a large health care organization to overcome barriers to LCS through a same-day screening event based in the community and report on the feasibility of this approach.