Journal of Medical Screening > Volume 14, Number 2 > Pp. 94-97

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Njor, S. H. Articles by Lynge, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Original Articles

Predicting the risk of a false-positive test for women following a mammography screening programme

Sisse Helle Njor, Anne Helene Olsen, Walter Schwartz, Ilse Vejborg and Elsebeth Lynge , Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farigmagsgade 5, opg. B, DK-1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark; Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farigmagsgade 5, opg. B, DK1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark; Mammography Screening Clinic, University Hospital Odense, Kløvervænget 10, DK-5000 Odense, Denmark; Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University Hospital Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farigmagsgade 5, opg. B, DK-1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark

Objectives: The objectives of this study was to provide a simple estimate of the cumulative risk of a false-positive test for women participating in mammography screening. To test the method, we used data from two well-established, organized mammography screening programmes offering biennial screening to women aged 50–69 years in Copenhagen and Fyn, Denmark.

Methods: We defined the outcome from a screen as being either a false-positive test or not a false-positive test. We then tested whether the outcomes from subsequent screens were independent, and afterwards estimated the risk over 10 screens of a false-positive test, i.e. the risk of getting at least one false-positive test for a woman participating in all 10 screens typically offered in Europe.

Results The outcomes of subsequent screens were found to be independent. After completion of screening rounds 3–5, the risk of a false-positive test over 10 screens was predicted to be 15.8–21.5% for a woman participating in the programme in Copenhagen, and 8.1–9.6% for a woman participating in the programme in Fyn.

Conclusions Our study showed that a relatively robust prediction of the risk of a false-positive test over 10 screens can be calculated in a simple way relatively early after the start of a mammography screening programme.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. M. Croswell, B. S. Kramer, A. R. Kreimer, P. C. Prorok, J.-L. Xu, S. G. Baker, R. Fagerstrom, T. L. Riley, J. D. Clapp, C. D. Berg, et al. Cumulative Incidence of False-Positive Results in Repeated, Multimodal Cancer Screening Ann. Fam. Med, May 1, 2009; 7(3): 212 - 222. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.-L. Xu and P. C Prorok On testing independence of repeated screening tests J Med Screen, March 1, 2009; 16(1): 50 - 50. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. H Njor and E. Lynge Response to Xu and Prorok J Med Screen, March 1, 2009; 16(1): 51 - 51. [Full Text] [PDF]