Walking the tightrope: communicating overdiagnosis in modern healthcare

Overdiagnosis and overtreatment have serious implications for\udindividuals, healthcare systems, and society,1 2 and effective\udstrategies are urgently needed to help the public, clinicians, and\udpolicy makers address this problem. Communication about\udoverdiagnosis has been highlighted as essential for moving\udforward but presents several challenges, such as the potential\udto confuse the public, undermine trust, and adversely affect\udpeople who already have a diagnosis. Various communication\udbased strategies offer real promise; we describe what is known\udand what we need to know to communicate effectively and\udsafely about overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Key messages:\udOverdiagnosis provides no benefits to patients and is a challenge to the sustainability of modern healthcare systems\udCommunication based strategies could help reduce overdiagnosis and its negative impact on individuals and health systems\udMass media education, shared decision making, terminology changes for disease states, and deliberative methods (juries) all have\udpotential as effective communication strategiesKJMcC is supported by a National\udHealth and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) career development\udfellowship (1029241), JJ is supported by an NHMRC early career\udfellowship (1037028), and. JW is supported by a career development\udfellowship from Cancer Research UK (C7492/A17219)