Survey on lung cancer screening system quality control by the Prefectural Committee for Management of the Cancer Screening System

Objective. It is necessary to establish a system to annually evaluate the quality of lung cancer screening programs in Japan. Method. The Miyagi Prefectural Committee for Management of the Cancer Screening System annually evaluated whether the local government had appropriate information to evaluate the quality of lung cancer screening systems, announcing that the results would be informed to residents. On the basis of "The lung cancer screening manual", 40 items were selected for the survey, which were able to be obtained easily when the screening had been conducted according to the standard method, using a 5-rank classification; A: all of the items were obtained sufficiently, B: 1-4 items were insufficient, C: 5-9 items were insufficient, D: 9 or more items were insufficient, E: no reply to the survey. Results. In 2001, a total of 70 municipalities were rated, and 58, 3, 6, and 3 municipalities were categorized as A, B, C, and D, respectively. In 2002, the numbers changed to 60, 7, 2 and 1. In all of the municipalities, 56 more items were sufficiently obtained and improvement was seen in 10 categories. Conclusion. It is possible for The Prefectural Committee for Management of the Cancer Screening System to annually conduct surveys to determine whether the local government has appropriate information to evaluate the quality of lung cancer screening systems. Such surveys should be done in each prefecture, announcing that the results will be informed to residents.