Identification of factors associated with diagnostic performance variation in reporting of mammograms: A review

This narrative review aims to identify what factors are linked to diagnostic performance variation for those who interpret mammograms. Identification of influential factors has potential to contribute to the optimisation of breast cancer diagnosis. PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases were searched using the following terms: 'Radiology', 'Radiologist', 'Radiographer', 'Radiography', 'Mammography', 'Interpret', 'read', 'observe' 'report', 'screen', 'image', 'performance' and 'characteristics.' Exclusion criteria included articles published prior to 2000 as digital mammography was introduced at this time. Non-English articles language were also excluded. 38 of 2542 studies identified were analysed.

Influencing factors included, new technology, volume of reads, experience and training, availability of prior images, social networking, fatigue and time-of-day of interpretation. Advancements in breast imaging such as digital breast tomosynthesis and volume of mammograms are primary factors that affect performance as well as tiredness, time-of-day when images are interpreted, stages of training and years of experience. Recent studies emphasised the importance of social networking and knowledge sharing if breast cancer diagnosis is to be optimised.

It was demonstrated that data on radiologist performance variability is widely available but there is a paucity of data on radiographers who interpret mammographic images.

This scarcity of research needs to be addressed in order to optimise radiography-led reporting and set baseline values for diagnostic efficacy.