Decision Aids and the Absence of Expected Longevity Benefits of Mammography Screening

To the Editor In their recently published Original Investigation, Schonberg et al correctly reported that “guidelines recommend not screening women 75 years and older at low or average risk regardless of their life expectancy”(p837) and that “a threshold of at least a 3% 5-year risk has been recommended to define high risk; however, increasingly higher thresholds are used, such as at least a 6% 5- year risk. Only 3 women in our study had a 5-year risk of at least 6%.”(p839) Therefore, almost all of these women (mean age, 78-79 years) could reasonably have stopped the screening.
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research