Overdiagnosis and overtreatment is rife in medicine and has been identified in the discipline of sports medicine,1 as well as many others. Labelling healthy individuals with mild problems as `sick` is concerning, notwithstanding the risks and costs of unnecessary treatment.2 Clinical decision-making depends on understanding the boundaries between health and disease. However, boundaries are often blurred due to complex and interactive psychosocial and cultural factors. In the era of patient-centred care, the goal of treatment should be to address the individual as a whole and enable return to usual daily life. Targeting disability, rather than disease alone, must be a priority for clinicians, particularly in the case of diseases such as osteoarthritis that may be considered `par for the course` of ageing. For example, osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability worldwide, and this burden is set to rise alongside population ageing.
© Copyright 2015 British Journal of Sports Medicine. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd of the BMA. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.