Patient and Radiologist Demographics Influence Perceptions of Screening Mammography Reports

The aim of this study was to test whether patient and radiologist demographics influence perceptions of screening mammography reports and the interpreting radiologist.

Patients presenting for breast imaging were surveyed. Demographics were collected, and each participant was shown five mock screening mammography reports with BI-RADS category 2 findings, each with a recommendation for 1-year screening. Each report included a picture of the interpreting radiologist, who was Black or White and male or female. Participants answered seven questions, on a Likert-type scale, about understanding, satisfaction, and trust in the report and radiologist. Generalized estimating equation ordinal logistic regression compared responses on the basis of participant and radiologist demographics.

A total of 178 women participated, with a mean age of 55.1 ± 10.2 years. Most participants self-identified as White (71%) or Black (20%) and non-Hispanic (98%), with broad educational representation (28% with bachelor's degrees and 28% with master's degrees). After controlling for demographics, Black participants reported greater agreement regarding trust in the report's finding (P = .037) if the radiologist was also Black. Black participants were less likely to be satisfied in the report quality (P = .043). Additionally, participants without any college education reported lower agreement that they were satisfied with the report quality (P = .020) and felt the radiologist cares about his or her patients (P = .037). There were no significant associations for radiologist sex or participant age.

Participant perceptions of screening mammography reports and the interpreting radiologist can be influenced by participant and provider race as well as participant education. These findings could have implications for mammography adherence, breast radiologist recruitment, and developing patient-centric reports.