LAUSR

Purpose: In Alabama, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. High lung cancer incidence and mortality rates are attributed to high smoking rates among underserved, low income, and rural populations. Rural residents in Alabama tend to be older, engage in risky health behaviors, and have lower adherence to preventive care than do their urban and suburban counterparts. Disparities in mortality rates between rural and urban areas are particularly large for lung cancer. It can be explained by increased tobacco use and the preponderance of late-stage diagnoses following the lack of uptake of LCS. Therefore, we examined factors associated with LCS uptake among patients who were referred to screening at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 2015-2020. Method: A retrospective cohort of individuals seen at UAB who were eligible for lung cancer screening from 01/01/2015 and 12/31/2020 was used to define the cohort. Included individuals were 55-80 years old, without diagnostic codes for lung cancer (ICD9 162.9 or ICD10 C34.90 within the past 10 years), and a history of smoking: Patient demographic variables included Age; Sex; Race/Ethnicity; distance from UAB and RUCA codes. Chi-square tests and Student t-tests was used to compare screening uptake across patient demographic and clinical variables. We used bivariate analyses to determine significant predictors of lung cancer screening uptake at UAB. Results: 67355 were identified as eligible for LCS of whom 1147 were screened, 16 individuals were not AL residents and therefore were not included in further analysis. Of those 1129 individuals screened, mean age was 67.02, male (54.92%) and Non-Hispanic White (57.77%). When compared to those who were not screened(97.86%), those screened were more likely to have live in an urbanized area (2.14%). Additionally, when compared to those who were not screened (48.16 mi), those screened were more likely to live closer to UAB (28.67 mi). Conclusion: LCS has not reached all subgroups; additional targeted efforts are essential to increase lung cancer screening uptake. Citation Format: Desiree A. Rivers. Lung cancer screening disparities in Southeastern U.S [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 1976.