The international use of PERFORMS mammographic test sets

To examine the utility of employing breast screening test sets internationally the data of 1,009 radiologists from the USA, UK and other European countries were examined as they inspected 20 carefully selected difficult recent screening cases. Some 720 UK radiologists, 247 American and 42 European radiologists took part. Whilst similar sensitivity scores between the three groups were found, the main difference was the lower specificity of the American radiologists reflecting their different recall clinical practice. It is argued that using test sets internationally provides participants with useful comparative performance information whilst also providing data on how the same cases are interpreted by radiologists from different countries.