Dictionary

overdiagnosis en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *dwísder. Ancient Greek διά (diá) Ancient Greek δια- (dia-) Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱétider. Proto-Hellenic *gignṓskō Ancient Greek γῐγνώσκω (gĭgnṓskō) Ancient Greek δῐαγῐγνώσκω (dĭagĭgnṓskō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Ancient Greek δῐᾰ́γνωσῐς (dĭắgnōsĭs)der. Latin diagnōsisder. English diagnosis English overdiagnosis From over- + diagnosis.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The act or process of diagnosing something too frequently, or based on insufficient evidence, or without benefit to the patient; an instance of this act or process.
   • Specifically, the broader diagnostic criteria typically results in the overdiagnosis of autism, particularly among those more severely disabled. 2007, Stephen E. Brock, Shane R. Jimerson, Robin L. Hansen, Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Autism at School, page 29:
   • Overdiagnosis refers to diagnosis that does not benefit patients because the diagnosed condition is not a harmful disease in those individuals. 2016 August, Wendy A. Rogers, Yishai Mintzker, “Getting clearer on overdiagnosis”, in Journal of evaluation in clinical practice:
   • While failing to make a diagnosis can result in lawsuits, there are no corresponding penalties for overdiagnosis. 2007 January 2, H. Gilbert Welch, Lisa Schwartz, Steven Woloshin, “What’s Making Us Sick Is an Epidemic of Diagnoses”, in New York Times:

Forms

Antonyms

underdiagnosis

Relateds

misdiagnose · disease mongering · misdiagnosis · pathologization · overmedicalization · underdiagnose · medicalization · overdiagnose