Time Trends in Radiologists’ Interpretive Performance at Screening Mammography from the Community-based Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, 1996–2004

Time Trends in Radiologists’ Interpretive Performance at Screening Mammography from the Community-based Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, 1996–2004
Laura E. Ichikawa, William E. Barlow, Melissa L. Anderson, Stephen H. Taplin, Berta M. Geller, R. James Brenner for the National Cancer Institute–sponsored Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium
Radiology 2010;256 74-82

Link to Journal

We found an overall improvement in radiologists’ interpretive performance at subsequent screening mammography, 1996–2004, in a large national sample of women aged 40–79 years, with increases in both sensitivity and recall rate and a decrease in specificity

Recall rate and sensitivity for screening mammograms increased, whereas specificity decreased from 1996 to 2004 among women with a prior mammogram. This trend remained after accounting for risk factors. The net effect was an improvement in overall discrimination, a measure of the probability that a mammogram with cancer in the follow-up period has a higher Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System assessment category than does a mammogram without cancer in the follow-up period

Identifying Minimally Acceptable Interpretive Performance Criteria for Screening Mammography

Identifying Minimally Acceptable Interpretive Performance Criteria for Screening Mammography
Patricia A. Carney, Edward A. Sickles, Barbara S. Monsees, Lawrence W. Bassett, R. James Brenner, Stephen A. Feig, Robert A. Smith, Robert D. Rosenberg, T. Andrew Bogart, Sally Browning, Jane W. Barry, Mary M. Kelly, Khai A. Tran, and Diana L. Miglioretti
Radiology 2010;255 354-361

Link to Journal

Our study contributes important information to existing literature in that we identified six performance cut points important for interpretation of screening mammograms and found that most of the cut points we identified would affect between 20% and 49% of interpreting physicians, who might benefit from additional training to improve their mammogram interpretation skills

NB PERFORMS needed in the USA

When Radiologists Perform Best: The Learning Curve in Screening Mammogram Interpretation

When Radiologists Perform Best: The Learning Curve in Screening Mammogram Interpretation
Diana L. Miglioretti, Charlotte C. Gard, Patricia A. Carney, Tracy L. Onega, Diana S. M. Buist, Edward A. Sickles, Karla Kerlikowske, Robert D. Rosenberg, Bonnie C. Yankaskas, Berta M. Geller, and Joann G. Elmore
Radiology 2009;253 632-640

Link to Journal

Radiologists without fellowship training in breast imaging significantly improved in their interpretation of screening mammograms as they gained clinical experience following residency, while radiologists who received fellowship training in breast imaging did not have this learning curve in clinical practice