title: Psychological consequences of false-positive screening mammograms in the UK.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the psychological effects of false-positive screening mammograms in the UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review of all controlled studies and qualitative studies of women with a false-positive screening mammogram. The control group participants had normal mammograms. All psychological outcomes including returning for routine screening were permitted. All studies had a narrative synthesis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The searches returned seven includable studies (7/4423). Heterogeneity was such that meta-analysis was not possible. Studies using disease-specific measures found that, compared to normal results, there could be enduring psychological distress that lasted up to 3 years; the level of distress was related to the degree of invasiveness of the assessment. At 3 years the relative risks were, further mammography, 1.28 (95% CI 0.82 to 2.00), fine needle aspiration 1.80 (95% CI 1.17 to 2.77), biopsy 2.07 (95% CI 1.22 to 3.52) and early recall 1.82 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.72). Studies that used generic measures of anxiety and depression found no such impact up to 3 months after screening. Evidence suggests that women with false-positive mammograms have an increased likelihood of failing to reattend for routine screening, relative risk 0.97 (95% CI 0.96 to 0.98) compared with women with normal mammograms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Having a false-positive screening mammogram can cause breast cancer-specific distress for up to 3 years. The degree of distress is related to the invasiveness of the assessment. Women with false-positive mammograms are less likely to return for routine assessment than those with normal ones.
authors.affiliation: PenTAG, University of Exeter, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, Devon, UK. mary.bond@pms.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: Toby
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pavey
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garside
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hyde
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D006113:United Kingdom