Associations of life satisfaction, emotional support, and social isolation with lung cancer screening adherence among US adults.

INTRODUCTION

Recent evidence suggests that psychosocial factors such as life satisfaction, emotional support, and social isolation may influence adherence to cancer screening behaviors. Limited evidence exists in the case of lung cancer screening (LCS). Hence, we are investigating how life satisfaction, emotional support, and social isolation were associated with the recommended annual LCS use among the screening-eligible population.

METHOD: We utilized population-based data from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), comprising 12,380 LCS-eligible adults aged 50-79 years.

RESULTS

Most of our sample self-reported as White (78.55%), aged 50-64 years (60.52%), urban residents (89.08%), and with health insurance (93.85%). About 12.51% reported feeling of rare/never emotional support, and 9.5% reported dissatisfaction or very dissatisfied with life. Almost 12.16% reported that they felt always or usually socially isolated. Among participants, 17.56% met the recommended LCS in the past year. Sample reporting dissatisfaction/very dissatisfaction with life has 47% lower relative likelihood of utilizing LCS within the past year than those with life satisfaction (RRR=0.53, 95% CI 0.34-0.84, p = 0.007). Those experiencing social isolation always/usually are less likely to LCS within the past year compared to those who have never experienced social isolation (RRR=0.69, 95% CI 0.49-0.98, p = 0.036). Rare/never emotional support is associated with lower adherence to the LCS within the past year than those who always felt emotionally supported (RRR=0.61, 95% CI 0.38-0.99, p = 0.045).

DISCUSSION: Overall, our findings emphasize a significant association between psychosocial factors and LCS utilization, indicating the need for personalized, psychosocially informed interventions to facilitate LCS utilization.