Do False-Positive Mammograms Discourage Subsequent Screening?

More than half of women who start obtaining screening mammograms in their 40s receive at least one false-positive result. False-positive results can lead to anxiety, distress, and sometimes additional out-of-pocket expenses, but do these issues affect patients' adherence to subsequent screening?

U.S. researchers examined how mammography results affected return for subsequent screening for 1 million women (age range, 40–73). About 77% of patients who had true-negative screening results underwent subsequent routine mammography within 9 to 30 months. In contrast, women with false-positive results were significantly less likely to undergo subsequent routine screening: The effect was small after recall for additional imaging to evaluate a mammogr…