Patient Preference for Contrast-Enhanced Mammography Compared to Breast MRI

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Imaging
• Patient-Reported Outcomes
• Medical Technology Assessment

Background:

• Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) is emerging as an alternative to breast MRI for specific clinical scenarios.
• While CEM's diagnostic performance is studied, patient preference data is less understood.
• Understanding patient preference is crucial for informed clinical decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze patient preference between CEM and breast MRI.
• To quantify the proportion of patients preferring CEM versus MRI.
• To identify factors influencing patient preference.

Main Methods:

• Systematic search of MEDLINE and Embase databases.
• Inclusion of prospective and survey-based studies reporting preference data.
• Random-effects meta-analysis of pooled preference proportions.

Main Results:

• Five studies with 395 participants were analyzed.
• A pooled 71.8% of participants preferred CEM over MRI (67.2%-75.9%).
• Excluding neutral responses showed 81.5% preference for CEM among those with a definite choice.

Conclusions:

• Patients more frequently prefer CEM to breast MRI, likely due to less claustrophobia and shorter examination times.
• Patient experience should be integrated into shared decision-making when both CEM and MRI are clinically viable.
• Findings do not imply diagnostic equivalence between CEM and MRI.