False Positive Mammograms Do Limited Harm

False positive mammograms results may be sources of unnecessary stress and worry for women, but this anxiety only lasts for a limited time and has no significant health consequences associated with it, according to a recent study.

The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine, details evidence that helps fight previous studies and claims that suggest that regular breast cancer screenings are an unnecessary and potentially harmful practice for women.

Research published in the British Medical Journal back in February provided evidence that regular mammogram screenings are largely unnecessary in healthy women, and do nothing to change breast cancer death rates. In-fact, the research showed that regular mammograms actually just increased the rate at which women were diagnosed with false-positives, causing unnecessary stress, worry, and even medical procedure -- such as breast tissue biopsies -- for women until follow-up tests determine that benign tumors in the breast tissue is not cancerous.

However this latest JAMA study takes a little bit of the bite out of the anti-mammogram argument. While the study does nothing to prove that mammograms do in0fact saves lives, the study does show how regular mammograms can't hurt a woman, and are preferable for anyone who thinks it is 'better safe than sorry.'

According to the study, 1226 women were asked to answer a questionnaire that was designed to assess anxiety levels, intentions about screening, and appreciation of mammograms. Results of these initial answers, as well as a follow-up with 1028 of the participants revealed that anxiety was significantly higher for women with false-positive mammograms, but  this anxiety was extremely temporary, and "health utility scores" remained largely unchanged between the participants over the course of a year.

Surprisingly, women who regularly underwent mammograms prior to a false positive later reported that they were now more likely to continue screenings than they were prior to the scare, as they were now more breast-cancer aware.

What does this mean for mammograms? Regardless if regular screening is effective at preventing deaths associated with breast cancer, the researchers concluded that there is no harm in it. Women who have experienced false positive appear to believe the same thing, continuing with their regular mammograms despite the temporary anxiety that resulted from a false positive.

The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine on April 21.