International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
July 2008
ICD-10 was published in a revised second edition in 2005. You can find order details here:
http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/
There are other classifications which serve specific purposes:
- OPCS 4 - the Office of National Statistics classification of surgical operations, 4th revision is used to record surgical interventions and is also used in HES.
- The Read codes form the largest thesaurus of health care terms in a computer-based system and support the introduction of computerised patient records. They are mapped to, and compatible with, the above classifications. Recently, the Read codes merged with SNOMED (the classification system registered to the College of American Pathologists). This is a new world standard for computerised medical terminology which was due to become available in 2001.
The ICD-10 uses as its core a single list of three alphanumeric character codes A00 to Z99, excluding U which is reserved for research and provisional assignment.
The classification is structured in 21 chapters. The first character of the code is a letter associated with a particular chapter. Within chapters, the 3 character codes are divided into blocks reflecting different axes of classification. Further subdivisions are used as appropriate. ICD-10 is presented in three volumes:
Volume 1. Tabular List
Classification and nomenclature regulations
Volume 2. Instruction Manual
Guidance on the use of Volume 1
Volume 3. Alphabetical Index
Index with instructions on its use
The three volumes are filed in the Quick reference section at Quick Ref 8. There are loan copies of volume 1 at WB 15.
The terms included in a category of the Tabular List are not exhaustive; they serve as examples of the content of the category. However, the Index includes most of the diagnostic terms currently in use. In the index the lead term is always the disease while the terms beneath refer to the variety or anatomical site. American spelling is used throughout.
An electronic ICD-10 is available here:
http://www.who.int/whosis/icd10/electron.htm
A description and further information about the classification is also available from:
http://www.who.int/whosis/icd10/descript.htm
Other background information can be found at the US National Center for Health Statistics website:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd9.htm
ICD specialty modifications
Specialty adaptations of ICD exist (oncology, dentistry, psychiatry):
http://www.who.int/whosis/icd10/special.htm
Some are in stock in the library: classified by subject:
Fritz A. International classification of diseases for oncology (ICD-0) 3rd ed. WHO, 2000
BMA location: QZ 15
ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders. WHO, 1992
BMA location: WM 15
Assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders : the ICD-10 international personality disorder examination (IPDE). Cambridge Univ P, 1997
BMA location: WM 190
WONCA (World Organisation of Family Doctors). International Classification of Primary Care 2nd ed. Oxford Univ P, 1998
BMA location: WB 15
UK WHO collaboration centre
This is based at the ONS. It assists with problems in the use and development of ICD:
Office for National Statistics
1 Drummond Gate
London
SW1V 2QQ
tel: 020 7533 5100
fax: 020 7533 5103
email to: john.fox@ons.gov.uk
http://www.who.int/whosis/icd10/collabor.htm
Web resources
ICD decoder
Convert from ICD6-10 code to description:
http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/icd.exe?Rev=10&Code=c50.1
National Centers for Health Statistics
Information about ICD10:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/dvs/icd10des.htm
!CD10 for mortality
UK information about changes to moratity calculations
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/classifications/ICD10/default.asp
Wikipedia summary
Useful background summary and links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD