Diagnostic Validity in Gastric Cancer Screening by Record Linkage with the Osaka Cancer Registry –On Film Reading of Radiographer and Radiologist–

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic validity of radiographer, first radiologist and second radiologist on gastric cancer screening, in terms of sensitivity, specificity and area under receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) analysis. The study subjects were 431,949 Osaka residents who underwent gastric cancer screening test at the Osaka Cancer Prevention and Detection Center (the Center) between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2002. Film readings were carried out at first by 21 radiographers and then double-checked by 31 first radiologists and 9 second radiologists. The sensitivity, specificity and AUC were calculated separately on radiographers, first and second radiologists. Sensitivity, specificity and AUC values on radiographer were 62.5%, 94.1% and 0.79, while those on first radiologist were 78.3%, 94.2% and 0.87, and those on second radiologist were 85.9%, 92.2% and 0.91. Sensitivity and AUC of radiographers were significantly lower than those of radiologists (P < 0.05). Although this result seems to be affected by the first film reading of radiographers, it is considered that more training on film reading is necessary for radiographers.