Obesity may affect mamography screening accuracy

Obese and overweight women are more likely to have inaccurate mammography screenings than are normal-weight and underweight women, according to a study by researchers at the UW and elsewhere. The study results appear in the May 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the American Medical Association Archives journals.

Researchers looked at the results of more than 100,000 mammography screenings conducted on members of Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle non-profit health plan. They found that women who were overweight, with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 29, and women who were obese, with a BMI of 30 or higher, were between 17 percent and 31 percent more likely than normal-weight or underweight women to have false-positive mammography screenings and be recalled for more tests.

The study's lead author was Joann Elmore, associate professor of medicine at the UW and section head of General Internal Medicine at Harborview Medical Center. Elmore is also an adjunct associate professor of epidemiology.