Median and 90th percentile wait times for resolution of abnormal breast screen without tissue biopsy for asymptomatic women (aged 50–69), by jurisdiction — 2015 screening years
BC: Screens referred by clinical breast exam (CBE) alone cannot be determined and therefore are not excluded from the data.
AB: Data sources are Alberta Breast Cancer Screening Database, Alberta Physician Claim data.
SK: Tissue biopsy is defined as a list of investigation types.
ON: Women with final result of Unknown/Lost to follow-up and those with a diagnostic resolution date greater than 6 months from abnormal screen were excluded from this measure.
QC: Screening data in 2015 were for Jan to Sept.
NT: All data were 2013-15 combined from the BSP database.
Data source: Provincial breast cancer screening programs.
BC: Screens referred by clinical breast exam (CBE) alone cannot be determined and therefore are not excluded from the data.
AB: Data sources are Alberta Breast Cancer Screening Database, Alberta Physician Claim data.
SK: Tissue biopsy is defined as a list of investigation types.
ON: Women with final result of Unknown/Lost to follow-up and those with a diagnostic resolution date greater than 6 months from abnormal screen were excluded from this measure.
QC: Screening data in 2015 were for Jan to Sept.
NT: All data were 2013-15 combined from the BSP database.
Data source: Provincial breast cancer screening programs.
Figure 3.2
Median and 90th percentile wait times for resolution of abnormal breast screen with tissue biopsy for asymptomatic women (aged 50–69), by jurisdiction — 2015 screening years
BC: Screens referred by clinical breast exam (CBE) alone cannot be determined and therefore are not excluded from the data.
AB: Data sources are Alberta Breast Cancer Screening Database, Alberta Physician Claim data.
SK: Tissue biopsy is defined as a list of investigation types.
ON: Women with final result of Unknown/Lost to follow-up and those with a diagnostic resolution date greater than 6 months from abnormal screen were excluded from this measure.
QC: Screening data in 2015 were for January to September.
NT: All data were 2013-2015 combined from the BSP database.
Data source: Provincial breast cancer screening programs.
BC: Screens referred by clinical breast exam (CBE) alone cannot be determined and therefore are not excluded from the data.
AB: Data sources are Alberta Breast Cancer Screening Database, Alberta Physician Claim data.
SK: Tissue biopsy is defined as a list of investigation types.
ON: Women with final result of Unknown/Lost to follow-up and those with a diagnostic resolution date greater than 6 months from abnormal screen were excluded from this measure.
QC: Screening data in 2015 were for January to September.
NT: All data were 2013-2015 combined from the BSP database.
Data source: Provincial breast cancer screening programs.
The median and 90th percentile wait time (weeks) between an abnormal breast screen result and resolution
Percentage of screens with resolution within the target wait times:
5 weeks for resolution not requiring a tissue biopsy
7 weeks for resolution requiring a tissue biopsy
Rationale for measurement: The wait time from screen to resolution is an important indicator of effectiveness across the entire screening episode from index screen to final diagnosis. Longer wait times from an abnormal screen result to resolution can worsen prognosis and have negative psychological impacts on screening participants. The time from an abnormal screening result to final diagnosis is impacted by mammographic suspicion, type of diagnostic test performed, provincial and programmatic capacity, and the final diagnosis.
Measurement timeframe:
All provinces: Screening year 2015
NT: Screening years 2013–15 combined
Population: Total number of abnormal breast screens performed in the measurement timeframe among women aged 50 to 69 years for whom the resolution date is within 6 months of abnormal screen.
Measure:
Wait time
Median and 90th percentile time interval (weeks) between an abnormal breast screen result and resolution, for abnormal screens with and without tissue biopsy respectively
Percentage of patients with resolution within the target wait time Denominator: Total number of abnormal breast screens performed in the measurement timeframe among women aged 50 to 69 years for whom the resolution date is within 6 months of abnormal screen Numerator: The number of women with resolution within the target wait time:
For abnormal screens requiring a tissue biopsy: number of women who received resolution within 7 weeks of an abnormal breast screen
For abnormal screens not requiring a tissue biopsy: number of women who received resolution within 5 weeks of an abnormal breast screen
Exclusion criteria:
Abnormal screens that took longer than 6 months for definitive diagnosis were excluded.
Screens referred by clinical breast exam (CBE) alone were excluded.
Screens lost to follow-up or with missing date information were excluded.
Screens without diagnostic assessment were excluded.
Data availability: All provinces and NT
Stratification:
By province
Tissue biopsy requirement: requiring a tissue biopsy, not requiring a tissue biopsy
Data source: Provincial breast cancer screening programs
Data retrieval date: July – October 2017
Variables details: Not applicable
Notes from jurisdictions:
BC: Screens referred by clinical breast exam (CBE) alone cannot be determined and therefore are not excluded from the data.
AB: Data Sources (Accessed on Aug 1, 2017): a. Alberta Breast Cancer Screening Database; b. Alberta Physician Claim data
SK: Tissue Biopsy: If the investigation type is Hook Wire Assisted Biopsy, Lumpectomy, MRI Guided Biopsy, Mammogram / Ultrasound / Biopsy, Mastectomy, Node Dissection, Biopsy, Re-excision, Stereo-tactic Core, Surgical Excision, Sentinel Node, Ultrasound Guided Core, Vacuum Assisted Biopsy and Vacuum Bx + Mammogram then it is defined as Tissue Biopsy.
ON: Women with Final Result of Unknown/Lost to Follow-up and those with a diagnostic resolution date greater than 6 months from abnormal screen were excluded from this measure.
NT: Data obtained from the BSP Database
Methodology notes:
Data were analyzed and provided by provincial breast cancer screening programs.
Age refers to the age at the screen date.
The date of abnormal breast screen refers to the screen date.
Date of resolution is considered date of definitive diagnosis as either cancer (invasive or in situ), or benign/normal case and can depend on behaviour of tumour:
For invasive or DCIS: The date of definitive diagnosis of cancer is the date of the first core or open surgical biopsy that confirms cancer. In rare occasions, FNA biopsy may also be used as a definitive diagnosis of cancer.
For benign or normal case: The date of definitive diagnosis is the last benign biopsy/procedure, or last procedure prior to a recommendation to return to regular screening.
Tissue biopsy includes core (needle) biopsy with or without image guidance and open (excisional) biopsy with or without image guidance.
Tissue biopsy does not include fine needle aspiration (FNA).
Each woman is counted once regardless of the number of mammograms performed. If a woman had multiple abnormal mammograms in a given year(s), the first abnormal test date is selected.
Changes to definition compared to previous years: Not applicable
Participation rate in breast cancer screening programs (%), by jurisdiction – 2014 screening year
Stage distribution
Distribution of cases by stage at diagnosis for prostate cancer – 2013 diagnosis year
Breast cancer screening outside of guidelines
Proportion of self-reported screening mammograms† performed on women within and outside the recommended target age (50-74) in the past year, jurisdictions combined‡ — 2008, 2012 and 2014 reporting years
Breast cancer
Incidence rates for breast cancer in women, by stage at diagnosis and province, age-standardized to the 2011 Canadian population — 2015 diagnosis year
