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Figure 4 | BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Figure 4

From: How does age affect baseline screening mammography performance measures? A decision model

Figure 4

Predicted secondary performance measures: positive predictive values for screening and diagnostic mammograms (PPVS, PPVD). Increasing cancer prevalence and screening sensitivity with age mean radiologists detect more cancers and the potential absolute benefit of baseline mammography increases with age. Recall exams are mostly false-positive mammograms, which cause unwanted collateral costs from screening. The relative stability of the recall rate makes the positive predictive value performance measures increase with age. The reciprocal of the positive predictive value is the number of screening recall mammograms or positive diagnostic mammograms needed to detect a cancer.

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