Estimates of cumulative false-positive screening outcomes
| Study (source or setting) | Cumulative false-positive screening mammography outcome |
| Hubbard et al.37 (US Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium mammography registries) | Cumulative probability of false-positive screen for 10 years of annual screening Age 40: 61.3% (95%CI: 59.4–63.1) Age 50: 61.3% (95%CI: 58.0–64.7) Cumulative probability of false-positive screen for 10 years of biennial screening Age 40: 41.6% (95%CI: 40.6–42.5) Age 50: 42.0% (95%CI: 40.4–43.7) Cumulative probability of false-positive biopsy for 10 years of annual screening Age 40: 7.0% (95%CI: 6.1–7.8) Age 50: 9.4% (95%CI: 7.4–11.5 Cumulative probability of false-positive biopsy for 10 years of biennial screening Age 40: 4.8% (95%CI: 4.4–5.2) Age 50: 6.4% (95%CI: 5.6–7.2) |
| Paci et al.27 (Euroscreen review of service screening, European programs) | Cumulative probability of false-positive screen for 10 biennial screens (in women aged 50-69 years) Pooled estimate 17% (range 8% to 21%) without invasive procedure and 3% with invasive assessment (needle and/or surgical biopsy). |
| Barratt et al.31 (data from Australian breast screening program) | Cumulative number of false-positive screen* out of 1000 over 10 years of biennial screens (five screens) Age 50: 209 per 1000 (20.9%) Age 60: 147 per 1000 (14.7%) |
* Number has been approximated from the report by Barratt et al31 (calculated from number recalled minus number diagnosed with BC).