What’s in a Scan: How well are consumers informed about the benefits and harms related to screening technology (CT and PET scans) in Canada?

Author

Alan Cassels, Jaclyn van Wiltenburg, Wendy Armstrong

Organization

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Published

2009

Summary

Private medical imaging companies in Canada are marketing health screening services to consumers, and yet the impacts of such screening have not been well studied. When used as tools to diagnose illness, CT (computed tomography) or PET (positron emission tomography) machines can be invaluable aids in determining a patient’s best treatment options. But when otherwise healthy people become convinced of the benefits of “pre-disease” screening and pay to have heart, lung, or full body scans performed, they are entering a health-care marketplace that offers very few protections. Screening tests being promoted to Canadian consumers are often marketed under the pretence that such screening can “save your life” despite the fact that neither the scientific literature nor professional or regulatory bodies condone such practices. The potential for false positive results (leading to cascading procedures, unnecessary patient anxiety, patient harm from radiation, as well as the potential harm to community health systems) makes this an area worthy of further study.

We set out to:
• assess the regulatory, media and marketing literature pertaining to the use of CT and PET machines in the real world and gather Canadian consumer perceptions of scanning technologies via a public opinion survey;
• assess the evidence-based literature associated with the use of cancer scanning technologies on asymptomatic people, specifically related to CT screening for heart, lung, and full body scans; and
• produce recommendations for policymakers on needed regulatory action and a guide for consumers on questions to ask when entering the private imaging marketplace.

Our project team assessed the HTA (Health Technology Assessment) literature related to CT and PET screening for asymptomatic patients, analyzed the media and marketing of medical imaging screening tests in Canada, conducted an overview of Canada’s regulatory environment in this area, and carried out a series of interviews with 28 key informants, mostly experts in the regulatory, medical, academic, and commercial fields related to screening. We finished with a Canada-wide public opinion survey of 400 Canadians related to perceptions of medical screening in Canada.

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OCA Funded Research
This research received funding support through the Office of Consumer Affairs' Contributions Program.

Contact information

Source: Consumer Policy Research Database