Physician Predictors of Mammography Accuracy

Grant #: U01
PI Name: Smith-Bindman R
Title: Physician Predictors of Mammography Accuracy
Institute: National Cancer Institute

Mammography is an imprecise test. Given this, the overall accuracy of mammographic interpretation is modest. Although differences in the accuracy of interpreting mammography have been reported, the reasons for differences in accuracy are not well understood. In an attempt to improve the quality of mammography interpretation, mammography accreditation bodies have set minimum levels of experience for radiologists reading mammography, however there is no empirical data to support these recommendations. The proposed research is a cross-sectional study, and will use data from the Breast Cancer Screening Consortium (BCSC) mammography registries that have been linked with data from the American Medical Association Physician Provider Database (AMA Master file) to evaluate the association between volume of mammographic interpretations per year, physician characteristics and accuracy measures. The investigators will evaluate the accuracy of mammography interpretation in community practice from four states including California, New Mexico, Colorado and Vermont participating in the BCSC. This data set will include information on approximately 274 physicians describing the prospective interpretations of 816,000 mammograms associated with 9,360 breast cancers from 1996 through 1998. The information from the AMA Master file will provide information on physician characteristics, practice type and training.