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Origin ID
QD445
Q-Code scope note
Q-Code conceptual content
Overdiagnosis ; refers to the situation where a screening exam detects a disease that would have otherwise been undetected in a person’s lifetime. The disease would have not have been diagnosed because the individual would have died of other causes prior to its clinical onset. Calculations show that overdiagnosis is a major problem in early detection programs for prostate cancer (or other diseases with long pre-clinical duration). Populations in which individuals are repeatedly screened will have a high proportion of individuals likely of being overdiagnosed and consequently overtreated (Davidov & Zelen 2004)
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Overdiagnosis is the term used when a condition is diagnosed that would otherwise not go on to cause symptoms or death. Cancer overdiagnosis may have of one of two explanations: 1) the cancer never progresses (or, in fact, regresses) or 2) the cancer progresses slowly enough that the patient dies of other causes before the cancer becomes symptomatic. Overdiagnosis should not be confused with false-positive results, that is, a positive test in an individual who is subsequently recognized not to have cancer. By contrast, an overdiagnosed patient has a tumor that fulfills the pathological criteria for cancer. (Welch & Black 2010)
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Citation
Davidov O, Zelen M. Overdiagnosis in early detection programs. Biostatistics (Oxford, England). 2004; 5(4): 603-13. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15475422
Doust J, Glasziou P. Is the problem that everything is a diagnosis?. Australian family physician. 2013; 42(12): 856-9. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24324985
Müskens, J. L., Kool, R. B., van Dulme n, S. A., & Westert, G. P. (2022). Overuse of diagnostic testing in healthcare: a systematic review. BMJ Quality & Safety, 31(1), 54-63. https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/31/1/54
Welch HG, Black WC. Overdiagnosis in cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2010; 102(9): 605-13. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20413742
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