ICD is an international classification of diseases. It was created to unify the process of coding diseases and pathological conditions. As a result, at present, doctors from all over the world have the opportunity to exchange information without even knowing a large number of languages.
The history of the ICD
The ICD is a classification, the foundation of which was laid back in 1893 by Jacques Bertillon, who at that time was the head of the Statistical Bureau of Paris. On behalf of the International Statistical Institute, he developed a classification of causes of death. In his work, he built on earlier Swiss, French, and English works.
The classification of the causes of death of Jacques Bertillon has received general recognition and has been widely used in Europe and North America. During the 6th revision in 1948, its structure also included diseases and pathological conditions that do not lead to death.
The modern ICD is the 10th revision document approved by the World Health Assembly in 1990. In fact, practicing doctors began using it in 1994. In the Russian Federation, the official use of ICD-10 was only begun in 1997.
Since 2012, scientists have been developing the ICD-11, however, to date, this document has not entered into force.
Features of the structure and basic principles of the ICD-10
The 10th version of the international classification of diseases introduced fundamental changes in its structure, the main of which was the use of an alphanumeric coding system.
The ICD-10 classification has 22 classes, which are collected in the following groups:
- epidemic diseases;
- general or constitutional diseases;
- local diseases that are grouped by anatomical signs;
- diseases that are associated with development;
- traumatic injuries.
Some classes include several letter headings at once. The 11th revision of this document is currently underway, but no significant changes to the classification structure are planned.
ICD composition
This international classification consists of three volumes at once:
- the first volume includes a basic classification, special lists for summary statistical developments, a section on "Morphology of neoplasms", as well as nomenclature rules;
- the second volume contains clear instructions on how to use the ICD-10;
- the third volume includes an index attached to the main classification.
To date, these 3 volumes are most often combined and released under 1 cover for user convenience.
Letter headings
ICD-10 is an international classification of diseases, in connection with which its creators had to think through unified designations that every specialist understood. For this, it was decided to use the headings indicated by Latin letters. There are 26 of them. At the same time, the creators left U column for the further development of ICD-10.
The disease codes in this document, in addition to the letter designation, also include a number. It can be two or three digit. Thanks to this, the creators of the ICD were able to encode all known diseases.
Practical use of ICD-10
Deciphering this coding system using the appropriate directory is absolutely no problem, not only for specialist doctors, but also for people who do not have any medical knowledge. Doctors use the ICD on an ongoing basis. Any disease that occurs in their patients is coded according to international classification. Most often, in practice, doctors use them for:
- The issuance of medical documents, if necessary, to hide the diagnosis (usually when a person passes a commission to get a job, receiving a document confirming that the patient was really at the doctor's appointment).
- Filling out medical documentation (extract from the medical history, in-patient patient card).
- Filling in the statistical reporting documents.
As a result, ICD-10 allows not only to exchange information between physicians from different countries, but also to keep medical confidentiality.
Class Coding
ICD-10 consists of 22 classes. Each of them includes diseases that have general principles of pathogenesis or that relate to a specific anatomical area. All classes have their own designation in the form of Latin numbers. Among them:
- Neoplasms.
- Parasitic and infectious diseases.
- Diseases of the endocrine system, metabolic disorders and eating disorders.
- Diseases of the nervous system.
- Diseases of the blood, as well as blood-forming organs, immune disorders.
- Behavioral and mental disorders.
- Diseases of the mastoid process and ear.
- Diseases of the eye and its adnexa.
- Congenital malformations.
- Respiratory system diseases.
- Digestive system diseases.
- Subcutaneous tissue and skin diseases.
- Circulatory system diseases.
- Diseases of the connective tissue and musculoskeletal system.
- Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium.
- Factors that affect a person’s health status and frequency of visits to health facilities.
- Diseases of the genitourinary system.
- Individual conditions that occur in the perinatal period.
- Injuries, poisoning and other consequences of external causes.
- Symptoms, signs and abnormalities that were identified as a result of laboratory and clinical studies, not included in other sections.
- External causes of disease and mortality.
As for the 22nd class, it is reserved for that group of diseases or pathological conditions that has not yet been established.
Further development
ICD-10 is an international classification of diseases that has serious potential for development. Currently, doctors use this document not only in paper but also in electronic form. For these purposes, a huge number of thematic sites have been created, and several mobile applications have been developed.
Also, coding according to ICD-10 is embedded in all electronic systems of medical integration, which are currently very actively developing in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Given the presence of a free heading U, this classification is able in the future to include a whole class of new diseases. Moreover, now it is sometimes used by scientists to assign a time code to those diseases and pathological conditions, the cause of which has not yet been fully studied. Distribution into a permanent column in the future occurs after clarification of the main points of the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease. As a result, the ICD is an international classification of diseases that has all the possibilities for further development.