Digital mammography does not improve health enough to warrant its higher cost unless its use is limited to women under age 50 or women with dense breasts, according to a cost-effectiveness study comparing digital mammography and conventional film mammography for breast cancer screening. The Dartmouth-led study found that health outcomes were equivalent between screening methods when all women were considered, but improved when digital was limited to younger women or women with dense breasts, resulting in cost effectiveness only in those subgroups. For the Medicare-aged population, digital mammography provided no apparent benefit and there was a hint that film mammography may be better for older women with non-dense breasts
