Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36220316›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2022

Do doctors and other healthcare professionals know overdiagnosis in screening and how are they dealing with it? A protocol for a mixed methods systematic review.

Veerle Piessens, Stefan Heytens, Ann Van Den Bruel, Ann Van Hecke, An De Sutter

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. How Do Australians Manage Diagnostic Testing Risks? Focus Groups Linked to a Model of Behaviour Change.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Veerle PiessensDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium veerle.piessens@ugent.be.ORCID 0000-0002-2305-1762
Stefan HeytensDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-1097-4987
Ann Van Den BruelDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Flanders, Belgium.
Ann Van HeckeDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
An De SutterDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionOverdiagnosis is the diagnosis of a disease that would never have caused any symptom or problem. It is a harmful side effect of screening and may lead to unnecessary treatment, costs and emotional drawbacks. Doctors and other healthcare professionals (HCPs) have the opportunity to mitigate these consequences, not only by informing their patients or the public but also by adjusting screening methods or even by refraining from screening. However, it is unclear to what extent HCPs are fully aware of overdiagnosis and whether it affects their screening decisions. With this systematic review, we aim to synthesise all available research about what HCPs know and think about overdiagnosis, how it affects their position on screening policy and whether they think patients and the public should be informed about it. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will systematically search several databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and PsycArticles) for studies that directly examine HCPs' knowledge and subjective perceptions of overdiagnosis due to health screening, both qualitatively and quantitatively. We will optimise our search by scanning reference and citation lists, contacting experts in the field and hand searching abstracts from the annual conference on 'Preventing Overdiagnosis'. After selection and quality appraisal, we will analyse qualitative and quantitative findings separately in a segregated design for mixed-method reviews. The data will be examined and presented descriptively. If the retrieved studies allow it, we will review them from a constructivist perspective through a critical interpretive synthesis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: For this type of research, no ethical approval is required. Findings from this systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at the annual congress of 'Preventing Overdiagnosis'. In addition, the results will serve as guidance for further research on this topic. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021244513.

Indexed as

OverdiagnosisPhysiciansHealth PersonnelHumansResearch DesignSystematic Reviews as TopicETHICS (see Medical Ethics)PREVENTIVE MEDICINEPRIMARY CAREPUBLIC HEALTHQUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Identifiers

PMID36220316
PMCPMC9557257

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.