3 Can you correctly group people who have a health outcome and those who do not?

Disease misclassification is when people who have a disease or people who do not have a disease are categorized into the wrong group.

It may seem odd to think that we may not know who had a health problem, but it isn't always straightforward. If someone doesn't go to a doctor, he or she may have some symptoms but not know they have a specific health outcome. In addition, sometimes health outcomes are diagnosed differently by different medical providers, or in different locations. Also, some health conditions share common symptoms. This means a person's symptoms could be for a different health condition and not the one under study

Limitations in the ability to recall the correct information may also lead to disease misclassification. People may have difficulty in remembering what disease they have. Sometimes people do not recall their diagnosis.

• How will you determine if someone has the health outcome or not?
• What definition will be used to clearly identify people with an illness?
• What are some obstacles to properly determining if someone has the health outcome?