Factors associated with lung cancer risk factor documentation.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Clinical Informatics
• Public Health

Background:

• Accurate documentation of lung cancer risk factors is crucial for determining screening eligibility.
• Variability in documentation practices can lead to disparities in healthcare access.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors associated with sufficient lung cancer risk factor documentation.
• To assess clinic-level variability in documenting risk factors for lung cancer screening eligibility.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study using electronic health record data from 20,632 individuals.
• Poisson and logistic regression models were used to analyze patient- and clinic-level factors.
• Hierarchical logit models assessed reliability-adjusted proportions across 31 clinics.

Main Results:

• 60% of individuals had sufficient risk factor documentation.
• Black race, non-English preferred language, Medicaid insurance, and non-activated patient portal were associated with lower documentation rates.
• Significant clinic-level variation in documentation was observed.

Conclusions:

• A low rate of sufficient lung cancer risk factor documentation exists.
• Patient-level factors including race, insurance, and language are associated with documentation disparities.
• Clinic-level variation in documentation suggests systemic issues impacting lung cancer screening eligibility.