Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2025
Impact of population based breast density notification: multisite parallel arm randomised controlled trial in BreastScreen.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Reply: Psychological Responses to Breast Density Notification: Empowerment or Anxiety?Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Psychosocial Impact of Breast Density Notification Through Breast Cancer Screening: A Qualitative Interview Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Assessing the Effect of Breast Density on Screening Performance in a Population-Based Program.The breast journal · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the effect of notifying women of their dense breasts on their psychosocial outcomes and health service use intentions.
designMultisite parallel arm randomised controlled trial.
settingPopulation based breast screening programme in Queensland, Australia.
participantsWomen aged ≥40 years having screening and classified as having mammographically dense breasts (BI-RADS C-D from automated density measure).
interventionWomen were randomised equally to standard care (no notification of breast density), notification of breast density plus written health literacy sensitive information (intervention 1), or notification of density plus a link to online video based health literacy sensitive information (intervention 2).
main outcome measuresPsychological (feeling anxious, confused, or informed) and health service use intentions (general practitioner consultation related to breast density, supplemental screening) at 8 weeks post-screening.
resultsBetween September 2023 and July 2024, 3107 women (1030 control, 1003 intervention 1, and 1074 intervention 2) were randomised, and 2401 women (802 control, 776 intervention 1, and 823 intervention 2) with a mean age at baseline of 57.4 (standard deviation 9.9) years were included in the analysis. Compared with the control group, women who were notified of their dense breasts reported feeling significantly more anxious (intervention 1: odds ratio 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08 to 1.57; intervention 2: odds ratio 1.28, 1.07 to 1.54) and confused (intervention 1: odds ratio 1.92, 1.58 to 2.33; intervention 2: odds ratio 1.76, 1.46 to 2.13) and had significantly higher intentions to talk to their general practitioner about their screening results (intervention1: relative risk ratio 2.08, 95% CI 1.59 to 2.73; intervention 2: relative risk ratio 1.71, 1.31 to 2.25) and to rely on their general practitioner for supplemental screening advice (intervention 1: relative risk ratio 2.61, 1.80 to 3.79; intervention 2: relative risk ratio 2.29, 1.58 to 3.33). However, most women did not intend to have supplemental screening (control: 91.3%; intervention 1: 78.9%; intervention 2: 81.4%). Notified women did not feel more informed (intervention 1: odds ratio 0.83, 0.68 to 1.01; intervention 2: odds ratio 0.80, 0.66 to 0.97).
conclusionsWomen notified of their dense breasts felt anxious and confused, did not feel more informed to make decisions about their breast health, and wanted to be guided by their general practitioners. Notification of breast density as part of population based breast screening may have adverse outcomes including additional consultation burden on general practitioners to advise women.
trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12623000001695).
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