Care Burden Derived from the Introduction of an Early Lung Cancer Screening Program in High-Risk HIV-Infected Patients

Abstract

We describe the care burden derived from a lung cancer screening program in high-risk patients with HIV. In a well-selected group with the described criteria, one annual low-dose thoracic computed tomographic exploration can be applied to 7.2% of the patients attended (95% confidence interval: 4.2-9.6), with at least one follow-up exploration in another 1.3%, with the generation of at least 2 extra visits for explanation of the protocol and results. If smoking habit does not change over the next 2 years, another 4.3% of the patients will have met the inclusion criteria. Early detection of lung cancer with low-dose thoracic computed tomographic could be of interest in HIV-infected patients because of the increased of risk but would imply an increase in care burden that must be taken into account.