Table 1 Characteristics of included studies
| Study | Country | Recruitment time | Screening programme | Comparator | Sample size, N | Participants age (yrs) | Number of screening rounds | Screening times and interval (yrs) | Duration of follow-up (mean/ median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct meta-analysis and network meta-analysis – RCTs of LDCT screening | |||||||||
| DANTE [22] | Italy | 03/2001 to 02/2006 | LDCT, medical exam and one CXR | No screening, medical exam and one CXR | 2,811 (2,400 planned) | 60-74 | 5 vs 0 | T0, T1, T2, T3, T4 | At 12/2012 median 6 yrs 3.5 months |
| DLCST [23] | Denmark | 10/2004 to 03/2006 | LDCT | No screening | 4,104 | 50-70 | 5 vs 0 | T0, T1, T2, T3, T4 | Median: 9.47 yrs vs 9.53 yrs (planned 10yrs) |
| MILD [24] | Italy | 09/2005 to 09/2011 | LDCT (annual and biannual), smoking cessation, pulmonary function test, blood sample | No screening, smoking cessation, pulmonary function test, blood sample | 4,099 (10,000 planned) | >49 | 10 or 5 vs 0 | T0, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9 vs T0, T2, T4, T6, T8 | Median 7.3 yrs |
| NLST [8, 25] | USA | 08/2002 to 04/2004 | LDCT | CXR | 53,454 | 55-74 | 3 vs 3 | T0, T1, T2 | Median 6.5 yrs |
| Network meta-analysis (main) – RCTs of CXR screening | |||||||||
| Czech [26, 27] | Czech republic | 06/1976 to 06/1977 | Intensive CXR, sputum cytology | Single CXR, sputum cytology | 6,346 | 40-64 | 6 vs 1 | T0, T0.5, T1, T1.5, T2, T2.5, T3 vs T0, T3. Further follow-up CXRs (no sputum) T4, T5,T6 in both arms | 15 yrs all participants |
| MAYO [28] | USA | 08/1971 to NR (screening ended 07/1976) | Intensive CXR, sputum cytology | Usual care (recommended an annual CXR and sputum cytology) | 9,211 | >45 | 18 vs unknown | T0.3, T0,7, T1, T1.3, T1.7, T2.0, T 2.3, T2.7, T3, T3.3, T3.7, T4, T4.3, T4.7, T5, T5.3, T5.7, T 6 (4 monthly) vs unknown | Median 20.5 years |
| Network meta-analysis (sensitivity) – RCTs of CXR screening (post hoc defined high risk sub-group of larger RCT) | |||||||||
| PLCO [29] | USA | 1993 to 2001 | CXR | No screening | 154,901 (30,321 NLST eligible subgroup) | 55-74 | 4 vs 0 | T0, T1, T2, T3 | 6 yrs all participants NLST eligible subgroup |