ArticleDiagnosis (Berlin, Germany)2014
A unified conceptual model for diagnostic errors: underdiagnosis, overdiagnosis, and misdiagnosis.
Article in Diagnosis (Berlin, Germany), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Strategies to reduce diagnostic errors: a systematic review.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2019Pooled it
- A Laboratory Medicine Best Practices Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs) and Algorithms Including NAATs for the Diagnosis ofClinical microbiology reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Identification of diagnostic discrepancies as a quality assurance measure in emergency medicine - a validation study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2026Trial
- Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Unveiling dental diagnostic dilemmas: a national survey of US dentists.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Potential Diagnostic Error for Emergency Conditions, Mortality, and Healthy Days at Home.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Harbingers of sepsis misdiagnosis among pediatric emergency department patients.Diagnosis (Berlin, Germany) · 2025Article
- What Constitutes Neuroradiology Diagnostic Quality and How Does It Affect Coverage Decisions?AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2025Article
- Australian Dentist's Knowledge and Perceptions of Factors Affecting Radiographic Interpretation.International dental journal · 2024Article
- Burden of serious harms from diagnostic error in the USA.BMJ quality & safety · 2024Article
- Framing diagnostic error: an epidemiological perspective.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
- Addressing the ethical problem of underdiagnosis in the post-pandemic Canadian healthcare system.Healthcare management forum · 2023Article
- Misdiagnosis of Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome and Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome in the Emergency Department.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023Article
- Optimizing measurement of misdiagnosis-related harms using symptom-disease pair analysis of diagnostic error (SPADE): comparison groups to maximize SPADE validity.Diagnosis (Berlin, Germany) · 2023Article
- Article
- Developing a Framework and Electronic Tool for Communicating Diagnostic Uncertainty in Primary Care: A Qualitative Study.JAMA network open · 2023Review
- Diagnostic error, uncertainty, and overdiagnosis in melanoma.Pathology · 2023Review
- Providers' and Patients' Perspectives on Diagnostic Errors in the Acute Care Setting.Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety · 2023Article
- Analysis of Variation Between Diagnosis at Admission vs Discharge and Clinical Outcomes Among Adults With Possible Bacteremia.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- Comparison of Diagnostic Recommendations from Individual Physicians versus the Collective Intelligence of Multiple Physicians in Ambulatory Cases Referred for Specialist Consultation.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
Progress in diagnostic error research has been hampered by a lack of unified terminology and definitions. This article proposes a novel framework for considering diagnostic errors, offering a unified conceptual model for underdiagnosis, overdiagnosis, and misdiagnosis. The model clarifies the critical separation between 'diagnostic process failures' (incorrect workups) and 'diagnosis label failures' (incorrect diagnoses). By dividing processes into those that are substandard, suboptimal, or optimal, important distinctions are drawn between 'preventable', 'reducible,' and 'unavoidable' diagnostic errors. The new model emphasizes the importance of mitigating diagnosis-related harms, regardless of whether the solutions require traditional safety strategies (preventable errors), more effective evidence dissemination (reducible errors; harms from overtesting and overdiagnosis), or new scientific discovery (currently unavoidable errors). Doing so maximizes our ability to prioritize solving various diagnosis-related problems from a societal value perspective. This model should serve as a foundation for developing consensus terminology and operationalized definitions for relevant diagnostic-error categories.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.