[Mammography screening: presentation of scientific evidence as a basis for communication with women]

This article presents the evidence of mammography-screening for communication between the physician and the consumer. Scientific data on the quality of mammography as a screening test (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values), effectiveness of screening programs (breast cancer mortality, total mortality), and possible harm (consequences of false positive and false negative results, overdiagnosis of breast cancer, radiation) are presented. Outcome data are communicated as absolute numbers rather than relative differences. In order to avoid framing of data equal emphasis is put on the proportion of persons who are likely to benefit and those who are unlikely to benefit or likely to be harmed.