Problems and Alternatives for Korea National Lung Cancer Screening Program for Smoking Cessation: Analysis of a Survey Involving Experts

Cheol Min Lee; Sil Vi Han Park; Jinri Kim; Bumjo Oh; Kiheon Lee; Yeol Kim; Yu-Jin Paek

doi:10.25055/JKSRNT.2024.15.2.49

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https://doi.org/10.25055/JKSRNT.2024.15.2.49

Problems and Alternatives for Korea National Lung Cancer Screening Program for Smoking Cessation: Analysis of a Survey Involving Experts

J Korean Soc Res Nicotine Tob 2024; 15(2): 49-56

Published online June 30, 2024

Cheol Min Lee^1,2*, Sil Vi Han Park³, Jinri Kim⁴, Bumjo Oh^2,5, Kiheon Lee^2,6, Yeol Kim⁷, Yu-Jin Paek⁸

¹Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, ²Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, ³Department of Family Medicine, Daerim St. Mary’s Hospital, Seoul, ⁴Department of Family Medicine, H+ Yangji Hospital, Seoul, ⁵Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, ⁶Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, ⁷National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, ⁸Department of Family Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea

Correspondence to: ^*이철민
서울대학교병원 강남센터
E-mail: bigbangx@snuh.org
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8652-4355

Received May 14, 2024; Revised June 24, 2024; Accepted June 24, 2024.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, dis-tribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract: Background: Since 2019, the National Lung Cancer Screening Program, which targets high-risk smokers, has made smoking cessation counseling mandatory during result consultations in Korea. To implement smoking cessation counseling, we surveyed experts to investigate the status, issues, and improvement measures of smoking cessation counseling.
Methods: We designed a survey to assess the status of smoking cessation counseling (including whether it is conducted during lung cancer screening result consultations, methods used, frequency of prescribing smoking cessation medications, among others) and improvement measures (from the perspectives of examinees, counseling physicians, clinic managers, and government officials). In December 2023, we sought cooperation from the top 100 institutions with high screening implementation rates and received responses from 35 individuals, including counseling physicians and smoking cessation specialists. We allowed for multiple responses and described the frequency for each survey separately.
Results: Of smokers, 71.4% received smoking cessation counseling, primarily within 3 minutes on the result consultation day (61.1%). Only 36.1% of smokers were registered for same-day support programs and medication prescriptions. Only 13.9% of smokers were frequently prescribed cessation medications, with 30.6% having never been prescribed cessation medication. Improvement suggestions included showing lung cancer screening results (55.6% by examinees), reimbursement for medications (58.3% by physicians and government), and increasing counseling sessions (63.9% by clinic management).
Conclusion: Even among proactive experts in lung cancer screening and smoking cessation counseling, frequency of actual prescription of cessation medications was low. Experts suggested alternatives such as increasing reimbursement, coverage for smoking cessation medications and treatment, and separate pricing for counseling.; Keywords : Lung cancer screening; Smoking cessation; Expert; Survey

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