ArticleBMJ open2017
Overdiagnosis across medical disciplines: a scoping review.
Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Trends in use of the new MeSH term "overdiagnosis": A bibliometric review.Health information and libraries journal · 2025Pooled it
- Screening for thyroid dysfunction and treatment of screen-detected thyroid dysfunction in asymptomatic, community-dwelling adults: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Imaging versus no imaging for low back pain: a systematic review, measuring costs, healthcare utilization and absence from work.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Pooled it
- 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography Combined With CT in Unresolved ICU Infections: Diagnostic Yield and Clinical Consequences in a Retrospective Cohort.Critical care explorations · 2026Article
- Underdiagnosis of Health: A Key Driver of Overdiagnosis of Disease.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- It depends on where you stand on screening: health professionals' awareness, perspectives, and approaches to overdiagnosis in cancer screening - a qualitative interview study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Addressing the overuse-underuse paradox in healthcare.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2025Article
- Perceptions of the usefulness of Choosing Wisely among general practitioners in Norway: a nationwide survey.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Pathways to autism diagnosis in adulthood.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2025Article
- Article
- The paradox of MRI for breast cancer screening: high-risk and dense breasts-available evidence and current practice.Insights into imaging · 2024Review
- Evaluating the Psychometric Properties and Clinical Utility of a Digital Psychosocial Self-Screening Tool (HEARTSMAP-U) for Postsecondary Students: Prospective Cohort Study.JMIR mental health · 2023Article
- Article
- Ordering of computed tomography scans for head and cervical spine: a qualitative study exploring influences on doctors' decision-making.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Overdiagnosis in the emergency department: a sharper focus.Internal and emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Overuse of medical care in paediatrics: A survey from five countries in the European Academy of Pediatrics.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
- How to Draw the Line Between Health and Disease? Start with Suffering.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2021Article
- Reliability and Concurrent Validity of the GAIN Short Screener Among Youth Utilizing Integrated Health Services.Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l'Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent · 2021Article
- [The problem of medical overuse : Finding a definition and solutions].Der Internist · 2021Review
- Characterization of the intestinal mucosal proteome in cats with inflammatory bowel disease and alimentary small cell lymphoma.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo provide insight into how and in what clinical fields overdiagnosis is studied and give directions for further applied and methodological research.
designScoping review. DATA SOURCES: Medline up to August 2017. STUDY SELECTION: All English studies on humans, in which overdiagnosis was discussed as a dominant theme. DATA EXTRACTION: Studies were assessed on clinical field, study aim (ie, methodological or non-methodological), article type (eg, primary study, review), the type and role of diagnostic test(s) studied and the context in which these studies discussed overdiagnosis.
resultsFrom 4896 studies, 1851 were included for analysis. Half of all studies on overdiagnosis were performed in the field of oncology (50%). Other prevalent clinical fields included mental disorders, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases accounting for 9%, 8% and 6% of studies, respectively. Overdiagnosis was addressed from a methodological perspective in 20% of studies. Primary studies were the most common article type (58%). The type of diagnostic tests most commonly studied were imaging tests (32%), although these were predominantly seen in oncology and cardiovascular disease (84%). Diagnostic tests were studied in a screening setting in 43% of all studies, but as high as 75% of all oncological studies. The context in which studies addressed overdiagnosis related most frequently to its estimation, accounting for 53%. Methodology on overdiagnosis estimation and definition provided a source for extensive discussion. Other contexts of discussion included definition of disease, overdiagnosis communication, trends in increasing disease prevalence, drivers and consequences of overdiagnosis, incidental findings and genomics.
conclusionsOverdiagnosis is discussed across virtually all clinical fields and in different contexts. The variability in characteristics between studies and lack of consensus on overdiagnosis definition indicate the need for a uniform typology to improve coherence and comparability of studies on overdiagnosis.
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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.