Preventing Overdiagnosis: A research programme to investigate and respond to the health impacts of expanding disease definitions and lowering diagnostic thresholds

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The “modern epidemic” of overdiagnosis is recognised as a source of harm and waste in healthcare. Overdiagnosis happens when someone is given a diagnosis for a disease that won’t harm them, leading to unnecessary treatment. This project will investigate how expanding disease definitions are helping drive overdiagnosis by labelling too many people, how to communicate about the problem, and how to improve the process of defining disease, so health resources can focus more on those most in need.