Lung Cancer Alliance Learns of National Survey

LCA recently learned of a new national survey that reinforces the lack of understanding about lung cancer testing.  In early March 2006, ConMed Corporation, an American medical device company, commissioned a telephone survey to determine Americans’ attitudes toward getting tested for lung cancer.

The survey asked people what they know about lung cancer testing.  The survey results reveal a disparity between men and women when they think of being tested for lung cancer.  While twenty-three percent of men thought of being tested for lung cancer, only 9% of women did.  Another knowledge gap identified by the survey is that younger people are more likely to think about being tested for lung cancer than older people (19% of people ages 18-54 compared to 9% of people age 55 and older).  This is the exact opposite as the risk profile, which rises with age and is greatest for those over 55.  A revealing indication about the lack of general public knowledge and awareness about lung cancer testing and diagnostics is that 48% of respondents said they have heard of a blood test for lung cancer, a test that does not exist at this time.  Another indication is that new technologies are not widely understood.

The survey was conducted by ORC International’s Caravan(r) Survey.  The Caravan(r) Survey is based on a random-digit-dialing (RDD) probability sample of all households in the United States.  The data was weighted to ensure the results reflect a representative U.S. population in terms of age, gender, geographic region, and ethnicity.  Overall, 1,013 respondents age 18 and older participated in the survey, for a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For more information, visit ConMed's website.