Will screening mammography in the east do more harm than good?

G.M. Leung, T.-H. Lam, T.Q. Thach and A.J. Hedley

American Journal of Public Health, 2002, vol. 92, issue 11, 1841-1846

Abstract: Objectives. We sought to systematically review the evidence for population-based mammography as applied to a Chinese population. Methods. Primary reports for meta-analysis were identified by a search of MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library. Outcome measures included breast cancer-related mortality, the number needed to be screened to prevent 1 death, and the positive predictive value of mammography. Results. Pooled relative risk for breast cancer-related death in the screened group was 0.80 (95% confidence interval=0.71, 0.90). Applied to Hong Kong, this figure translates into a number needed to screen of 1302 healthy women screened annually for 10 years to prevent 1 death. Conclusions. Evidence is insufficient to justify population-based breast cancer screening by mammography for women in Hong Kong and other Asian populations with low breast cancer prevalence.

Date: 2002
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2002:92:11:1841-1846_2

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().