Improving public understanding of 'overdiagnosis' in England: a population survey assessing familiarity with possible terms for labelling the concept and perceptions of appropriate terminology.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Communicating the concept of 'overdiagnosis' to lay individuals is challenging, partly because the term itself is confusing. This study tested whether alternative descriptive labels may be more appropriate.

Design

Questionnaire preceded by a description of overdiagnosis.

Setting

Home-based, computer-assisted face-to-face survey.

Participants

2111 adults aged 18-70 years in England recruited using random location sampling by a survey company. Data from 1888 participants were analysed after exclusions due to missing data.

Interventions

Participants were given one of two pieces of text describing overdiagnosis, allocated at random, adapted from National Health Service breast and prostate cancer screening leaflets.

Primary and secondary outcome

SUBMITTER: Ghanouni A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6020944 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature