American Thoracic Society releases official statement on addressing health disparities in lung nodule management

The article discusses the importance of timely evaluation of lung nodules to ensure early diagnosis of potentially curable lung cancers. The rates of guideline-concordant lung nodule evaluation are low, especially for minoritized groups. The article presents a research agenda that identifies knowledge gaps and prioritizes research questions related to interventions to reduce disparities in lung nodule evaluation. The research questions were grouped into four domains, including research methodology, patient-level interventions, clinician-level interventions, and health system–level interventions. The article suggests the need for standardized approaches, evaluating the role of social determinants of health, improving patient-clinician communication, and exploring the utility of patient navigators and culturally trained multidisciplinary teams to reduce disparities in lung nodule evaluation.