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# Current smokers were twice as likely to skip follow-up after lung CT screening
- URL: https://www.coios.me/current-smokers-were-twice-as-likely-to-skip-follow-up/
- Published: 2026-09-23T13:00:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T21:35:24.000Z
- Description: In a Japanese community low-dose CT screening programme, 19.3% of abnormal findings had no documented diagnostic follow-up within a year, and current smokers had roughly twice the odds of nonattendance as former smokers (adjusted OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.71-2.70).
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Behavioural science, Smoking and vaping, What changes behaviour at scale, Cancer, Japan, #peer-reviewed, #confirms, #item, #source-2026-09

A retrospective cohort examined 3,507 low-dose CT lung screening examinations requiring further evaluation in a community programme in Japan between 2010 and 2025\. Within 365 days, 678 examinations (19.3%) had no documented diagnostic follow-up, and current smoking carried an adjusted odds ratio of 2.15 (95% CI 1.71-2.70) for nonattendance against former smoking, as well as slower attendance among those who did come. Respiratory symptoms were associated with lower odds of nonattendance, while the suspected disease category was not associated with it at all.

*Why it is interesting: The group at highest lung cancer risk is the least likely to complete the pathway a screen opens, which bears on how much of a trial's mortality benefit a real programme keeps.*

Source

[Respiratory Investigation, 21 September 2026](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resinv.2026.101518?ref=coios.me)

DOI

10.1016/j.resinv.2026.101518

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Retrospective cohort of 3,507 abnormal low-dose CT screens in one Japanese community programme, 2010–2025, with a 1,122-examination time-to-event subcohort (2021–2025)

Verdict

Confirms prior evidence

Driver

[Smoking and vaping](https://www.coios.me/d-smoking-vaping/)

Driver

[What changes behaviour at scale](https://www.coios.me/d-behaviour-change/)

Driver

[Cancer](https://www.coios.me/d-cancer/)