Evaluating Radiological Technologist's Ability to Detect Abnormalities in Film-Screen Mammographic Images: A Decision Analysis Pilot Project

Purpose

To determine the radiological technologist's performance in detecting abnormalities in film-screen mammographic images.

Methods

Fifty sets of 2-view bilateral mammographic images wereread and judged to be either benign, likely benign, suspicious of abnormality or highly suggestive of malignancy. Seven readers, 5 radiological technologists and 2 radiologists currently working in the field of mammography participated in this study.

Results

The sensitivity of three-fifths of the technologists in detecting abnormalities that were likely to be a sign of breast cancer was 100%, which was comparable to the 2 participating radiologists. Specificity was also high amongst the technologists, with three-fifths being equal to (88.37%) or better (93.02%) than that of the radiologists (88.37%).

Conclusion

Of those participating in this study, the findings indicate that the sensitivity and specificity of the majority of individual technologists to detect mammographic abnormalities is comparable to that of the radiologists when compared to the gold standard.