201 Understanding public perceptions of lung cancer screening; a qualitative analysis of online responses to news articles

On 26/06/2023 the Department for Health and Social Care announced plans for a national lung cancer screening programme. It was widely reported by news outlets online, generating significant discussion and debate. Pilot programmes demonstrated low uptake of screening, especially in higher risk populations; limited engagement with traditional research methods has made it difficult to identify barriers to participation. We hypothesised that the screening announcement provided an opportunity to obtain a novel perspective on lung cancer screening opinions including views that may be considered unpopular or controversial and were therefore not previously shared.