Overdiagnosis - Part 2

Diagnostic Creep, Overselling and Disease mongering

Last week, we introduced the concept of overdiagnosis in prostate cancer screening. It didn't take long for the issue to rear its head again as the Telegraph reported Why autism and ADHD self-diagnosis may be inaccurate, and ADHD and autism referrals are up fivefold since the pandemic.

These reports are based on a recent Nuffield Trust report, which “show that there might be as many as 1.2 million autistic people and 2.2 million people with ADHD in England.” Furthermore, In December 2023, there were 172,022 patients with suspected autism waiting to be seen – the highest number ever reported and five times higher than the 32,220 waiting in 2019.

According to the Telegraph, experts blame ‘diagnostic creep.’ An NHS task force is investigating the problem. “NHS England has also begun important work into investigating challenges in ADHD service provision and last month launched a cross sector task force alongside government, to help provide a joined-up approach for the growing numbers of peo…