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Diagnostic Overshadowing

Meaning

Diagnostic overshadowing is a pervasive cognitive bias in clinical judgment where a healthcare professional prematurely attributes a patient’s new or existing symptom to a known, pre-existing chronic condition, thereby failing to thoroughly investigate for a separate, co-morbid, and often treatable illness. This bias is particularly detrimental in hormonal health, where non-specific symptoms like fatigue, weight change, or mood instability may be incorrectly dismissed as solely due to a known diagnosis like depression or aging. It represents a significant obstacle to achieving accurate and holistic patient care.