overdiagnosis

English

Etymology

From over- +‎ diagnosis.

Noun

overdiagnosis (countable and uncountable, plural overdiagnoses)

1. (medicine) To diagnose something too frequently, or based on insufficient evidence, or without benefit to the patient.
   • 2007 January 2, H. Gilbert Welch, Lisa Schwartz, Steven Woloshin, “What’s Making Us Sick Is an Epidemic of Diagnoses”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     While failing to make a diagnosis can result in lawsuits, there are no corresponding penalties for overdiagnosis.

   • 2007, Stephen E. Brock, Shane R. Jimerson, Robin L. Hansen, Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Autism at School, page 29:

     Specifically, the broader diagnostic criteria typically results in the overdiagnosis of autism, particularly among those more severely disabled.

   • 2016 August, Wendy A. Rogers, Yishai Mintzker, “Getting clearer on overdiagnosis”, in Journal of evaluation in clinical practice‎^[2]:

     Overdiagnosis refers to diagnosis that does not benefit patients because the diagnosed condition is not a harmful disease in those individuals.

Related terms

• overdiagnose
• underdiagnosis