Factors Associated with Smoking Cessation of Participants in the National Lung Cancer Screening Program in Korea

Abstract

Purpose Smoking cessation interventions for participants in lung cancer screening are essential for increasing the effectiveness of screening to reduce lung cancer mortality. This study aimed to investigate the factors that lead to smoking cessation after lung cancer screening.Materials and Methods The Korean National Lung Cancer Screening (KNLCS) Satisfaction Survey was conducted from 2021 to 2022 with approximately 1,000 samples per year among participants in KNLCS targeting 30 or more pack-year smokers. Factors associated with smoking cessation were analyzed based on the survey.Results Among 1,525 current smokers in the survey participants, 728 (47.7%) received screening result counseling from physician after screening and showed significantly higher smoking cessation rate than non-counseling participants (odds ratio [OR], 2.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27 to 3.70). The participants who considered the counseling helpful were more likely to quit smoking (OR, 3.53; 95% CI, 2.00 to 6.22) and to reduce smoking amount (OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.54 to 2.71). Similarly, those who received physicians’ active recommendations to quit smoking were likely to quit smoking (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.25 to 3.87) and to decrease smoking amount (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.68). In contrast, participants who had no abnormal findings from screening tended to have no significant change in smoking status despite the physicians’ active recommendations to quit smoking.Conclusion Physicians’ active recommendations and effective counseling to quit smoking could be a key factor in increasing smoking cessation among lung cancer screening participants. Further research should be conducted to develop more effective strategies for smoking cessation to participants without abnormal findings in lung cancer screening.