Self Confidence and Screening Mammography -- Help or Hindrance in Performance?

Background: It has been shown that there is variability among radiologists' interpretive performance during readings of screening mammograms. The effects of variables such as years of experience, interpretive volume, and fellowship training have been studied. Other physician specialties have documented better performance in those physicians who express more confidence in their skills and knowledge. Objective: To determine whether level of confidence has an effect on interpretive performance for screening mammography. Participants/Methods: 119 radiologists from multiple centers from around the United States participated in and completed the study. The radiologists were tasked with completing a test set of 130 screening mammograms. The test set was composed of randomly selected mammograms, with approximately 28% consisting of mammograms for which a biopsy-proven breast cancer had been diagnosed within 12 months of the mammogram being performed. The radiologists viewed cases in random o more...