Meanings
- uncountableThe mistaken attribution of signs and symptoms of a medical condition to a pre-existing known condition.
Accurate diagnosis is often complicated due to two factors: diagnostic overshadowing and challenging behaviors.
2007, Robert L. Schalock, User's Guide: Mental Retardation, →ISBN, pages 15–162 more examples
Clearly the consequences of diagnostic overshadowing could be potentially fatal for some people with learning disabilities as their true unerlying health need will not be identified and treated.
2009, Bob Gates, Owen Barr, Oxford Handbook of Learning and Intellectual Disability, →ISBN, page 106Multicultural awareness can, in fact, lead to diagnostic overshadowing if clinician attention to race or other diversity issues results in neglect of other important aspects of the client (Vontress & Jackson, 2004).
2012, Derald Wing Sue, Counseling the Culturally Diverse, →ISBN
Cite this entry
diagnostic overshadowing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diagnostic%20overshadowing
“diagnostic overshadowing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diagnostic%20overshadowing. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “diagnostic overshadowing,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diagnostic%20overshadowing.
Source: diagnostic overshadowing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.