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Editorial
. 2014 Sep;29(9):1218-20.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-014-2867-0.

Oversimplifying overdiagnosis

Ruth Etzioni  1 , Roman Gulati
Affiliations
Editorial

Oversimplifying overdiagnosis

Ruth Etzioni et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2014 Sep.
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematic illustration of overdiagnosis of progressive, indolent, and regressive cancers detected by screening. Shaded boxes indicate windows of detectability. The lead time is the time from screen detection to the point at which disease would have presented clinically in the absence of screening. In the case of progressive cancer, overdiagnosis occurs when other-cause death happens during the lead time. Therefore, the longer the lead time, the greater the chance of overdiagnosis. Indolent or persistent cancers and regressive cancers never reach the point of clinical presentation; thus, they are always overdiagnosed.
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