False positive mammograms in Europe: do they affect reattendance?

Excerpt

False positive results from screening mammography are quite common in the United States, with almost half of women receiving at least one false positive result over 10 years of annual screening [1]. In Europe, false positive mammography results are likely less common, as European countries report many fewer abnormal mammogram results and, on the whole, have similar breast cancer detection rates [2‐5]. Reasons for lower false positive rates in Europe may include a less litigious environment, having higher quality standards, having the double-viewing of film be more common practice, having higher tolerance for missing breast cancer (false negatives), requiring higher volume for radiologists interpreting mammograms, and radiologists having access to patients’ previous screening records [6, 7]. Even with these safeguards, many European women experience false positive mammograms. …