Table 1.
Understanding of ‘overdiagnosis’ among participants who had previously encountered the term (n=117): emerging (sub)themes
| Category | Exemplar quote (spelling errors corrected) | n (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Response not categorised or no knowledge | ||
| Incoherent, irrelevant or too vague to interpret | “More than a person says.” | 21 (17.9) |
| No knowledge | “Not sure.” | 10 (8.5) |
| Diagnosis-related responses | ||
| Overly negative or complicated diagnosis | “Where certain illnesses are overstated in their severity.” | 12 (10.3) |
| False-positive diagnosis | “Diagnosis of a condition that is not really there.” | 11 (9.4) |
| Overdiagnosis | “I think it means the diagnosis of a disease that will not cause symptoms or death.” | 9 (7.7) |
| Too many diagnoses | “Finding out all the complaints that may be wrong with you.” | 8 (6.8) |
| Overly detailed diagnosis | “A condition has been over-described.” | 4 (3.4) |
| Misdiagnosis | “Diagnosing minor problems rather than the real problem at source.” | 1 (0.9) |
| Diagnosis based on stereotypes | “Diagnosis based on stereotypes e.g. The patient is overweight therefore he will have a CVA.” | 1 (0.9) |
| Test-related responses | ||
| Too many tests | “Patient undergoing more tests than necessary to diagnose a disease.” | 6 (5.1) |
| Treatment-related responses | ||
| Inappropriate treatment | “Taking medicine not needed.” | 1 (0.9) |
| Overtreatment | “Had taken too many pills, or dr. prescribe too many different pills the person must take, when don’t need.” | 1 (0.9) |
| Responses related to patients' psychology | ||
| Overthinking | “When you think things through to such an extent that you confuse things or make them more complicated or important than they deserve to be.” | 20 (17.1) |
| Overly health-sensitive | “Over-analysing of minor conditions until you are convinced that there is a condition to be treated.” | 4 (3.4) |
| Anticipating a worse diagnosis | “Presuming something nasty is wrong before running tests.” | 3 (2.6) |
| Other responses | ||
| Medicalising issues unrelated to health | “When non-health-related issues are medicalised.” | 2 (1.7) |
| Defensive medicine | “Must have an answer, doctors not wanted to be sued.” | 1 (0.9) |
| Iatrogenic illness | “Iatrogenic illness” | 1 (0.9) |
| Too many attempts at prevention | “Too much preventing what may happen or not.” | 1 (0.9) |