BreastCheck Programme Statistics 2005
The figures reported relate to those women contacted by BreastCheck between 1 January and 31 December, 2005.Programme standards, against which performance is measured, are based on European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Mammography Screening (Fourth Edition).
The Following Statistics' tables are available:
- Screening Activity Overall
- Screening Activity by Type Of Screen
- Screening Activity by Type of Screen And Age Group
- Screening Quality: First Screen
- Screening Quality: Subsequent Screen
- Screening Outcome: First Screen by Age Group
- Screening Outcome: Subsequent Screen by Age Group
- Cancers with Non-Operative Diagnosis
- Outcome of First Screens by Region
- Outcome of Subsequent Screens by Region
- Women's Charter Parameters
Screening Activity Overall
The number of women screened has increased, with over 79,000 women invited for screening and 59,960 attending,
representing an increase in efficiency of the Programme.The overall rate of acceptance of invitation to screening
remains relatively consistent and is in excess of the target of 70%.The standardised detection ratio, a measure
of overall programme performance, remains well in excess of the standard of 0.75.
| Performance Parameter | 2005 |
| Number of women who deconsented following receipt of consent form | 1,617 |
| Number of women invited | 79,262 |
| Number of eligible women invited | 78,297 |
| Number of women attending for screening | 59,960 |
| Eligible women acceptance rate (includes deconsented women) * | 76.6% |
| Known target population acceptance rate | 74.1% |
| Number of women recalled for assessment | 1,923 |
| Number of benign biopsies | 80 |
| Number of cancers detected | 318 |
| Cancers detected per 1,000 women screened | 5.3 |
| Number of in situ cancers | 48 |
| Number of invasive cancers < 15mm | 131 |
| Standardised Detection Ratio | 1.01 |
Details of the ineligible categories
Excluded – women in follow up care for breast cancer, An Post not contactable, physically or mentally incapacitated, terminally ill, other.
Suspended – extended vacation or working abroad, previous mammogram < 1 year,woman wished to defer appointment or wait until next round, unwilling to reschedule.
The number of women screened by year of invitation is shown in Figure 2 over the five full years of operation of the Programme demonstrating the relatively steady growth in activity since the Programme commenced.
Screening Activity By Type Of Screen
Once screened, almost nine out of every ten women take up a subsequent invitation for screening.This has been a constant feature of the Programme since subsequent screening began in 2002.The uptake among those invited for the first time is lower but represents an increase on last year’s figure. Previous non-attenders are those women who failed to respond to an invitation to attend a first screening appointment in a previous round; these women continue to receive invitations to attend screening and over a quarter take up this further invitation.
| Performance Parameter | First Invited Population | Previous Non-Attenders | Subsequent Population |
| Number of women who deconsented | 65 | N/A | 1,552* |
| Number of women invited | 24,202 | 9,469 | 45,591 |
| Number of women eligible for invitation (including deconsents) | 22,523 | 9,469 | 46,305 |
| Number of women screened | 16,262 | -2,595 | 41,103 |
| Eligible women acceptance rate (including deconsents) | 72.2% | 27.4% | 88.8% |
| Known target population acceptance rate | 67.0% | 27.4% | 87.2% |
*Deconsented in previous round of screening, but remain within target age group of 50-64 years
Screening Activity By Type Of Screen And Age Group
The acceptance rate of screening for the first time is highest among younger women; this is commonly observed
in breast screening programmes.
Table 3(i) First Invited Population
| Performance Parameter | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-64 |
| Number of women who deconsented | 40 | 10 | 12 |
| Number of women invited | 16,784 | 4,012 | 2,994 |
| Number of eligible women invited | 16,030 | 3,540 | 2,592 |
| Number of women screened | 12,189 | 2,285 | 1,555 |
| Eligible women acceptance rate (including deconsents) | 76.0% | 64.5% | 60.0% |
| Known target population acceptance rate | 72.5% | 56.8% | 51.7% |
Table 3(ii) Previous Non-Attenders
The uptake among previous non-attenders is low. This is typical of what is observed in other breast screening programmes. This group of women require targeted interventions to help them overcome the barriers to screening.
| Performance Parameter | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-64 |
| Number of previous non-attenders invited | 1,625 | 4,358 | 3,374 |
| Number of women screened | 612 | 1,172 | 740 |
| Known target population acceptance rate | 37.7% | 26.9% | 21.9% |
Table 3(iii) Subsequent Invite
Once again we find that uptake for first screening is highest in the younger age groups,where the numbers invited are naturally highest. For subsequent screening uptake is consistently high throughout the age groups.
| Performance Parameter | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-64 |
| Number of women who deconsented in previous round* | 158 | 439 | 488 |
| Number of ineligible women** | 156 | 350 | 331 |
| Number of eligible women invited | 8,714 | 20,842 | 16,189 |
| Number of women screened | 7,822 | 18,721 | 14,426 |
| Eligible women acceptance rate (including deconsents) | 89.8% | 89.8% | 89.1% |
| Known target population acceptance rate | 88.2% | 88.3% | 87.3% |
* deconsented in previous round, but remain in the target population
** identified as ineligible in previous round of screening or in this round, but remain in the target population
Screening Quality: First Screen
This Table gives the main screening quality parameters measured among women attending for screening for the first time. For these women all the key clinical screening standards are surpassed. Almost half of all women diagnosed with an invasive cancer at first screening had a very small cancer, less than 15mm in diameter,which is an excellent prognostic indicator.
| Performance Parameter | 2005 | Standard |
| Number of women screened for first time | 18,857 | - |
| Number of women recalled for assessment | 1,037 | - |
| Recall rate | 5.5% | <7% |
| Number of benign open biopsies | 52 | - |
| Benign open biopsy rate per 1,000 women screened | 2.8 | <3.6 |
| Number of women diagnosed with cancer | 130 | - |
| Cancer detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 6.9 | - |
| Number of women with in situ cancer (DCIS) | 20 | - |
| Pure DCIS detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 1.1 | - |
| Number of women diagnosed with DCIS as % of all women diagnosed with cancer | 15.4% | 10-20% |
| Number of women diagnosed with invasive cancer | 110 | - |
| Invasive cancer detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 5.8 | - |
| Invasive cancer detection rate per 1,000 women aged 50-51 screened | 4.0 | >2.9 |
| Invasive cancer detection rate per 1,000 women aged 52-64 screened | 6.7 | >5.2 |
| Number of women with invasive cancers <15 mm | 51 | - |
| Number of women with invasive cancers <15 mm as % of all women with invasive cancers | 46.4% | ≥40% |
| Standardised Detection Ratio | 0.98 | 0.75 |
Screening Quality: Subsequent Screen
Similarly for women returning for subsequent screening all the important clinical parameters are surpassed. An even greater proportion of women diagnosed with invasive cancer had a very small tumour. The standardised detection ratio remains high and well in excess of the standard.
| Performance Parameter | 2005 | Standard |
| Number of women screened for for a subsequent time | 41,103 | - |
| Number of women recalled for assessment | 886 | - |
| Recall rate | 2.2% | <5% |
| Number of benign open biopsies | 28 | - |
| Benign open biopsy rate per 1,000 women screened | 0.7 | <2 |
| Number of women diagnosed with cancer | 188 | - |
| Cancer detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 4.6 | - |
| Number of women with in situ cancer (DCIS) | 28 | - |
| Pure DCIS detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 0.7 | - |
| Number of women diagnosed with DCIS as % of all women diagnosed with cancer | 14.9% | 10-20% |
| Number of women diagnosed with invasive cancer | 160 | - |
| Invasive cancer detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 3.9 | >2.4 |
| Number of women with invasive cancers <15mm | 80 | - |
| Number of women with invasive cancers <15 mm as % of all women with invasive cancers | 50.0% | ≥40% |
| Standardised detection ratio | 1.03 | 0.75 |
Screening Outcome: First Screen by Age Group
A growing proportion of our first screened women are in the youngest age group of 50-54. As in previous years we again find that recall rates fall and cancer detection rates rise as age increases. Age is a recognised important risk factor for breast cancer. Some new women continue to enter the Programme at older ages, either due to residence in a new screening area e.g. Southern HSE Region, or because they move into an active screening area and become known to the Programme.
| Performance Parameter | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-64 |
| Number of women screened | 12,801 | 3,457 | 2,295 |
| Percentage of women recalled for assessment | 5.7% | 5.0% | 4.7% |
| Benign open biopsy rate per 1,000 women screened | 3.20 | 1.74 | 2.18 |
| Overall cancer detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 5.7 | 9.0 | 10.0 |
Screening Outcome: Subsequent Screen by Age Group
When women return for repeat screening recall rates for further assessment are consistent across the age groups; as expected the numbers of women found to have a cancer at assessment rise with increasing age.
| Performance Parameter | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-64 |
| Number of women screened | 7,822 | 18,721 | 14,426 |
| Percentage of women recalled for assessment | 2.3% | 2.0% | 2.3% |
| Benign open biopsy rate per 1,000 women screened | 0.77 | 0.69 | 0.62 |
| Overall cancer detection rate per 1,000 women screened | 3.7 | 4.6 | 5.0 |
Cancers With Non-Operative Diagnosis
A key feature of the Programme to date is the extremely high rate of non-operative diagnosis of cancer; i.e.breast tissue is sampled by a Radiologist under local anaesthetic in the outpatient assessment setting, allowing a definitive diagnosis in almost all women without the need for surgical intervention.
| Performance Parameter | Initial Screening | Subsequent Screening | Standard |
| Percentage of women with non-operative diagnosis of cancer | 93.1% | 95.7 | ≥70% |
Figure 3 shows the percentage of women with cancer with non-operative diagnosis over the years of the Programme to date, demonstrating a sustained high level of non-operative diagnosis.
Outcome of First Screens by Region
This year we present data by women resident in the new Health Service Executive regions. It is important to note that cancer detection rates can fluctuate from time to time particularly when there are smaller numbers involved. BreastCheck currently screens women in three regions, Dublin and North East region, Dublin and Mid Leinster region and the Southern Region (counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny).
| Region of Residence | Number of women screened | Acceptance rate: Eligible | Acceptance rate: Known Target Pop | Number of cancers detected | Cancers detected per 1,000 women |
| Dublin and North East Region | 4,002 | 67.8% | 63.3% | 22 | 5.5 |
| Dublin and Mid Leinster Region | 11,591 | 54.4% | 50.6% | 83 | 7.2 |
| Southern Region | 3,290 | 82.3% | 77.3% | 25 | 7.6 |
Outcome of Subsequent Screens by Region
Almost all women returning for screening were from the Dublin and North East and Dublin and Mid Leinster regions. The very small number of women invited from the Southern Region makes the cancer detection rate unreliable.
| Region of Residence | Number of women screened | Acceptance rate: Eligible | Acceptance rate: Known Target Pop | Number of cancers detected | Cancers detected per 1,000 women |
| Dublin and North East Region | 13,146 | 89.0% | 86.9% | 73 | 5.6 |
| Dublin and Mid Leinster Region | 27,935 | 90.6% | 88.7% | 115 | 4.1 |
| Southern Region | 44 | 75.9% | 75.9% | 0 | 0.0 |
Women's Charter Parameters
The Women's Charter parameters are consistently high in the main. Although we are slightly short of the target for the percentage of women re-invited for screening, a further 6% of women were re-invited during the 28th month, giving a total of 95.8% of women re-invited within 28 months.We aim to invite eligible women for screening within two years of becoming known to the Programme, and for 83.6% of women first invited in 2005 we achieved this. The percentage of women offered hospital admission for primary surgical treatment within three weeks of diagnosis of breast cancer is close to the target and for this we are grateful for the co-operation of our associated hospitals.
| Performance Parameter | 2005 | Standard |
| % women who received 7 days notice of appointment | 97.9% | ≥90% |
| % women who were sent results of mammogram within 3 weeks | 96.5% | ≥90% |
| % women offered an appointment for Assessment Clinic within 2 weeks of notification of abnormal mammographic result | 94.2% | ≥90% |
| % women given results from Assessment Clinic within 1 week | 96.0% | ≥90% |
| % women offered hospital admission for treatment within 3 weeks of diagnosis of breast cancer | 84.6% | ≥90% |
| % women re-invited for screening within 27 months of invitation at previous round | 89.6% | ≥90% |
| % women eligible for screening invited for screening within 2 years of becoming known to the Programme | 83.6% | ≥90% |
Download full Annual Report 2005:
English (.pdf file 640 kb, 38 pages - A4 format) BC-areport05-English.pdf
Irish (.pdf file 640 kb, 38 pages - A4 format) BC-areport05-Irish.pdf