Describing behavioral aspects of annual lung cancer screening participation: Application of the cognitive-social health information processing model.

OBJECTIVE: Continued participation in yearly screening is necessary to maximize the effectiveness of lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose CT to detect early-stage disease. Determinants of LCS adherence are multi-faceted, rely heavily on factors related to health behavior, and need to be better understood. This exploratory study applied social-cognitive theory to characterize key demographic and clinical factors associated with LCS-specific health information processing related to annual adherence, with the goal of informing future hypothesis generation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional survey of LCS-eligible individuals who had recently completed a low-dose CT and received results that recommended annual follow-up. Study participants completed a survey based on the Cognitive Social Health Information Processing model to describe health information processing and screening behaviors among individuals eligible for annual LCS. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 143 LCS individuals with recommended annual follow-up, finding that this population has high self-efficacy about the LCS process, perceives the benefits as high, reports few barriers to continued annual screening, has low fatalism, but also reports suboptimal LCS-specific knowledge. CONCLUSION: These findings expand the limited literature addressing psychosocial and behavioral aspects of continued LCS participation and provide valuable information for future communication with LCS participants.