A self-directed learning intervention for radiographers rating mammographic breast density.

PURPOSE: Subjective methods of mammographic breast density (MBD) assessment are prone to inter-reader variability. This work aims to assess the impact of a short self-directed, experiential learning intervention on radiographers' reproducibility of MBD assessment.

METHOD: The study used two sets of images (test and learning intervention) containing left craniocaudal and left mediolateral oblique views. The test set had MBD ratings from Volpara™ and radiologists using the fourth edition Breast Imaging and Data Systems (BI-RADS® ). Seven radiographers rated the MBD of the test set before and after a self-directed learning intervention using the percentage descriptors in the fourth edition BI-RADS® Atlas. The inter-reader agreement, the agreement between radiographers and Volpara™ as well as radiologists, was assessed using a Weighted Kappa (кw ).

RESULTS: Overall, radiographers' inter-reader agreement (кw ) was substantial (0.79; 95% CI: 0.70-0.87) before the intervention and almost perfect (0.84; 95% CI: 0.77-0.90) after the intervention. Before the intervention, radiographers demonstrated fair agreement with radiologists (0.24; 95% CI: -0.46-0.61) and Volpara™ (0.24; 95% CI: -0.41-0.59). A fair but slightly improved agreement was also observed between radiographers and radiologists (0.31; 95% CI: -0.33-0.64) as well as Volpara™ (0.28; 95% CI: -0.34-0.61) after the intervention.

CONCLUSION: Findings demonstrate that a short duration self-directed, experiential learning intervention reduces inter-reader differences in MBD classification, but has a negligible impact on improving the agreement between inexperienced and expert readers.