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Published on: August 30, 2013
Effect of false-positive screening mammograms on rescreening in Western Australia
Marcus J H Sim1, Siva Prema Siva, Intan S Ramli
1Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA.
Objectives:
To quantify the effect of previous false-positive mammogram results on rescreening rates in a population of women participating in the BreastScreen WA (BSWA) program.
Design And Participants:
Retrospective cohort study of women aged 50-69 years who received free screening mammograms at BSWA between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2007.
Main Outcome Measures:
Percentages of women attending rescreening, and risk ratios for rescreening.
Results:
A total of 22 396 screening mammograms were falsely reported as positive, and 560 333 mammogram screens were reported as normal (negative). Women with a false-positive index mammogram result were less likely than women with a true-negative index mammogram result to attend rescreening at 27 months (67.6% v 70.7%; risk ratio, 0.96; P < 0.001). A reduced rescreening rate was seen in all subgroups of women except Indigenous women. Rescreening rates were affected by the types of assessment done at the recall visit.
Conclusion:
Mammographic population screening services should keep their false-positive result rates low, to prevent women from being deterred from screening.
