Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were included.
Specific interventions included in the review
Physical examination and mammography and mammography alone.
Reference standard test against which the new test was compared
The review did not include any diagnostic accuracy studies that compared the performance of the index test with a reference standard of diagnosis.
Participants included in the review
Women under 50 years of age were included (n=159,465); one trial had women aged 40 to 59 years.
Outcomes assessed in the review
The outcome assessed was breast cancer deaths.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors do not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many of the authors performed the selection.