Social factors affect adherence to incidental lung nodule follow-up

Social factors influence whether patients who are found to have incidental lung nodules on chest CT imaging adhere to follow-up, according to research published March 8 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. And using a deep-learning model that incorporates demographic, socioeconomic, and nodule-related factors could help predict whether patients will comply with follow-up recommendations, wrote a team led by Zhuoyang Wang of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "Our study demonstrates that clinical context and socioeconomic factors can predict a patient’s incidental pulmonary nodule follow-up adherence across four different machine learning models, demonstrating the utility of artificial intelligence tools in improving patient management and outcomes, through predictive analytics and targeted health system-wide interventions," Wang and coauthor Eduardo Barbosa Jr., MD, noted. Incidental pulmonary nodules are common findings on chest CT, with a prevalence ranging from 25% to 51% among patients undergoing lung cancer screening, the team explained. Management of these incidental findings consists of noninvasive follow-up imaging or biopsy, and although most of these findings are benign, failure to follow up can lead to delayed diagnosis of disease and poorer patient outcomes. Follow-up rates for incidental pulmonary nodules can be as low as 40%, the authors wrote, and it's important to understand why. To address the question, the two conducted a ...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Subspecialties CT Chest Radiology Source Type: news