Open AccessReproducibility of BI‐RADS Breast Density Measures Among Community Radiologists: A Prospective Cohort Study
Author(s) -
Spayne Mary C.,
Gard Charlotte C.,
Skelly Joan,
Miglioretti Diana L.,
Vacek Pamela M.,
Geller Berta M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the breast journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1524-4741
pISSN - 1075-122X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1524-4741.2012.01250.x
Subject(s) - biostatistics , public health , medicine , breast cancer , community health , family medicine , library science , general partnership , cancer , nursing , political science , computer science , law
Using data from the Vermont Breast Cancer Surveillance System (VBCSS), we studied the reproducibility of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI‐RADS) breast density among community radiologists interpreting mammograms in a cohort of 11,755 postmenopausal women. Radiologists interpreting two or more film‐screen screening or bilateral diagnostic mammograms for the same woman within a 3‐ to 24‐month period during 1996–2006 were eligible. We observed moderate‐to‐substantial overall intra‐rater agreement for use of BI‐RADS breast density in clinical practice, with an overall intra‐radiologist percent agreement of 77.2% (95% confidence interval (CI), 74.5–79.5%), an overall simple kappa of 0.58 (95% CI, 0.55–0.61), and an overall weighted kappa of 0.70 (95% CI, 0.68–0.73). Agreement exhibited by individual radiologists varied widely, with intra‐radiologist percent agreement ranging from 62.1% to 87.4% and simple kappa ranging from 0.19 to 0.69 across individual radiologists. Our findings underscore the need for additional evaluation of the BI‐RADS breast density categorization system in clinical practice.