Individual Screening
Screening refers to the technique used to detect an undiagnosed disease. As proposed and accepted by WHO, the strategy is defined as the presumptive identification of an unknown ailment within a healthy population through the various test(Siegel et al. 2014). The procedure consists of many stages such as identifying the target population, creating awareness among them, evaluating the extent of the diagnosed illness and deciding about the appropriate kind of treatment. The main objective of early disease diagnosis, primarily known as secondary prevention, is discovering and curing the conditions related to the pathological changes.
While opting for a particular kind of screening for an individual, certain models that lack proper facilities should be avoided because the identification tests for major diseases require proper resources and well-equipped health care centers. This paper focuses on a patient who is supposed to undergo a preventive cancer screening. Policies on this test differ in different countries and various health care systems. Moreover, cancer screening is a very complex and distinct public health strategy that requires resourceful coordination. Hence, it is advisable to undergo the procedure only when its effectiveness has been established, and the resources are enough to cover the target group.
National Health Interview Study (NHIS) has recommended the implementation of LDCT in their research that is aimed at reducing lung cancer mortality rate. This recommendation was referenced to lung cancer incidence for the years between 2009 and 2103. The data from this period is as per the information from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) December 2015 submission. This study aims to analyze this information employing certain evidence-based strategies and to recommend LDCT screening for diagnosing the disease.
The Low Dose CT (LDCT) screening method is recommended for the patient in question due to his smoking history. A systematic review of the scan that has been conducted by the United States Preventive Services focuses mainly on individuals with a history of smoking. The experimental results have proved it difficult to assess the risk of developing cancer within a given period.
According to the American Cancer Society’s recommendations, the annual cancer review with a low-dose CT scan for individuals that are at a higher risk of the disease must meet certain conditions (Siegel et al. 2018). The target individual must be aged between 50 and 75 and should possess smoking habits. The patient should have access to a high cancer screening and treatment center, and he/she must be informed about the benefits and drawbacks of LDCT scans.
The patient under my care met all the conditions; hence, it is decided that LDCT method of screening was the best screening method for him.
Risk Factors of the LDCT
The patient was informed of the risk factors associated with LDCT before the actual screening process. One of the highlighted aspects was the recent announcement by the United States Preventive Service Task, which pointed out that the cancer risk among 20-29 pack-year smokers was the same as that of 30+ year smokers (Humphrey et al. 2014). Moreover, based on the data from the NHISL, the 20-29 current year smoker was not included in the NLST. LDCT screening also posed a false-positive rate and potential harm from the radiation rays.
The high mortality rate of lung cancer demands preventive and control strategies to reduce the pathogenicity of the disease. LDCT is recommended for screening of lungs in smokers. Though the method is not very cost-effective, the Low Dose CT scan is the most accepted screening method for those who are under the threat of lung cancer, and hence, it has been recommended for the target individual.
References
Humphrey, L. L., Deffebach, M., Pappas, M., Baumann, C., Artis, K., Mitchell, J. P., … & Slatore, C. G. (2013). Screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography: a systematic review to update the US Preventive services task force recommendation. Annals of Internal Medicine, 159(6), 411-420.
Siegel, R., Ma, J., Zou, Z., & Jemal, A. (2014). Cancer statistics, 2014 – Siegel – 2014 – CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians – Wiley Online Library. … : A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. https://doi.org/Volume 65, Issue 1 January/February 2015 Pages 5–29
Siegel R.L., Miller K.D., Jemal A. (2018)Cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018;68(1):7–30