# Effectiveness of a multilevel integrated intervention for LDCT lung cancer screening and smoking cessation among African Americans

> **NIH NIH R01** · LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER · 2024 · $401,715

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
African Americans have both the highest incidence and mortality of lung cancer compared to any
other racial/ethnic group. A possible explanation for this disparity is that African Americans (AA)
may be less likely to utilize preventative screenings such as Low-dose computed tomography
(LDCT), which has the potential to encourage smokers to quit smoking successfully. In 2021, the
USPSTF expanded their lung cancer screening (LCS) recommendations to include individuals
ages 50-80 years with at least a 20 pack-year history, increasing the number of eligible U.S.
adults. While the expanded criteria are expected to increase the number of high-risk individuals
eligible for screening and reduce lung cancer mortality, the impact on racial and ethnic minorities,
including African Americans, has shown mixed findings. This is problematic as previous research
has found that African Americans may have different quit behaviors than whites. While use of
LCS as a teachable moment for tobacco cessation is important, currently, there is no well-
integrated, comprehensive, culturally relevant community-engaged, sustainable program. Still, it
is not clear whether the synergy effect of smoking cessation and LDCT LCS intervention was
observed in both quitting behaviors and LDCT uptake among African-American smokers. To
address this urgent public health concern, this study aims to reduce disparities and the burden of
lung cancer among AA smokers by supporting a Multiple-level intervention integrating lung cancer
screening and smoking cessation(MILS), followed the NIH DEIA strategies using multilevel
interventions that impact determinants of health and address health disparities at appropriate time
points across the life course. Aim 1) Investigate smokers' and providers' attitudes, knowledge,
and experiences with the expanded 2021 USPSTF LCS recommendations. Aim 2) Compare the
effectiveness of a MILS vs. usual care on the biochemically-validated 7-day point-prevalence
tobacco abstinence rates, LDCT uptake, nicotine dependence and stage of change was
assessed. Aim 3) Explore barriers and facilitators that influence primary outcomes at the
community, provider, and individual levels for the improvement of a multilevel intervention. To
date, no study has evaluated the synergy effect of smoking cessation intervention and LDCT LCS
in AA populations with multilevel strategies. We will move the field forward by providing effective,
scalable interventions to improve both smoking cessation and LDCT lung cancer screening
adherence to reduce health disparities promised by large clinical trials that motivated screening
guidelines. The results of the study will directly guide the development of targeted strategies to
improve lung cancer screening rates among minorities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10943504
- **Project number:** 1R01MD019690-01
- **Recipient organization:** LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Tung Sung Tseng
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $401,715
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-23 → 2030-07-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10943504

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10943504, Effectiveness of a multilevel integrated intervention for LDCT lung cancer screening and smoking cessation among African Americans (1R01MD019690-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10943504. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*