Getting a false positive on a mammogram — especially if it's accompanied by a recommendation forfollow-up visits or a biopsy — could discourage patients from seeking future screening, according to a new study.
Why it matters: Previous findings show roughly half of all women receive afalse positive mammogram over a decade of annual screening.
Inaccurate results are more common in younger women with denser breast tissue, meaning a false positive could be a significant deterrent to future preventive health services.
What they found: Researchers from the University of California, Davis studied more than 3.5 million screening mammograms performed at 177 breast imaging facilities in the U.S. between 2005 to 2017.
Patients with true negative results were compared with those who had false positives and were recommended for more screening or biopsy — and their probability of returning for another mammogram within 30 months.
55% of those who received a false positive and recommendation for short-term follow-up returned for subsequent screening, they report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
