Screening mammography recall rate: does practice site matter?

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Breast Imaging

Background:

• Mammography screening is crucial for early breast cancer detection.
• Radiologist performance metrics, such as recall rates, can be influenced by various factors.
• Understanding variations in recall rates is important for quality assurance in breast imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if individual radiologist screening mammography recall rates differ based on the imaging site.
• To compare recall rates between a community office practice and an academic referral hospital.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of mammography audit data from May 2008 to September 2011.
• Analysis of data from five breast imaging specialists interpreting mammograms at two distinct sites.
• Calculation of recall rates and comparison of patient demographics (breast density, surgical history, prior mammograms) between sites.

Main Results:

• A total of 74,297 screening mammograms were interpreted across both sites.
• The overall recall rate was significantly lower at the community site (6.9%) compared to the hospital site (8.6%).
• Individual radiologists consistently showed lower recall rates at the community site, with significant differences observed for all five.

Conclusions:

• Screening mammography recall rates are higher at academic hospital sites compared to community practices.
• Patient population factors, including a higher prevalence of surgical history and younger age at the hospital site, likely contribute to the observed differences in recall rates.
• These findings highlight the impact of site-specific patient demographics on mammography recall rates.