ICD-10 facts for kids

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International Classification of Diseases Version 10
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision

Abbreviation	ICD-10
Status	Active
Year started	1983
First published	1994
Preview version	1990
Organization	World Health Organization
Domain	Medical classification

ICD-10 stands for the 10th version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. It's a special list of codes created by the World Health Organization (WHO). These codes help doctors and health workers keep track of diseases, symptoms, and other health issues.

Work on ICD-10 started in 1983. It was officially approved in 1990 and first used by countries in 1994. Later, a newer version called ICD-11 took its place on January 1, 2022.

The WHO creates the main version of ICD-10. However, many countries have changed it a bit to fit their own needs. The original ICD-10 has over 14,000 different codes. This allows for much more detailed tracking of health problems compared to the older ICD-9.

With ICD-10, doctors can be very specific about a health issue. They can code its cause, how it shows up, where it is in the body, how serious it is, and what type of injury or disease it is. Some countries have even added codes for medical procedures. For example, the US version, ICD-10-CM, has over 70,000 codes!

The WHO offers lots of information about ICD-10 on its website. This includes an online tool to look up codes and training materials. They even have a support forum and self-learning tools to help people understand it.

What are the Chapters in ICD-10?

The ICD-10 system organizes health problems into different chapters. Each chapter groups similar diseases or conditions together. This makes it easier to find and use the correct codes.

The table below shows the main chapters from the international version of ICD-10.

**ICD-10** chapters
Chapter	Block	Title
I	A00–B99	Certain infectious and parasitic diseases
II	C00–D48	Neoplasms
III	D50–D89	Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism
IV	E00–E90	Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases
V	F00–F99	Mental and behavioural disorders
VI	G00–G99	Diseases of the nervous system
VII	H00–H59	Diseases of the eye and adnexa
VIII	H60–H95	Diseases of the ear and mastoid process
IX	I00–I99	Diseases of the circulatory system
X	J00–J99	Diseases of the respiratory system
XI	K00–K93	Diseases of the digestive system
XII	L00–L99	Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue
XIII	M00–M99	Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue
XIV	N00–N99	Diseases of the genitourinary system
XV	O00–O99	Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium
XVI	P00–P96	Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period
XVII	Q00–Q99	Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities
XVIII	R00–R99	Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
XIX	S00–T98	Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
XX	V01–Y98	External causes of morbidity and mortality
XXI	Z00–Z99	Factors influencing health status and contact with health services
XXII	U00–U99	Codes for special purposes

How Countries Use ICD-10

About 27 countries use ICD-10 to help manage their healthcare systems and decide how to use resources. Some of these countries have changed ICD-10 to make it more useful for them. The original, unchanged ICD-10 is used in 117 countries. They use it mainly for reporting causes of death and for health statistics.

The versions used by different countries might vary. They can have different levels of detail, or they might not use every category. Some countries have even added codes for medical procedures.

Australia

Australia started using its own version, ICD-10 Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), in 1998. It was created by experts at the University of Sydney.

Other countries like New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, and Saudi Arabia also use ICD-10-AM.

Brazil

Brazil began using ICD-10 in 1996.

Canada

Canada started using ICD-10 for reporting deaths in 2000. They slowly introduced ICD-10-CA for reporting other health issues starting in 2001. This change happened province by province, with Quebec being the last to switch.

ICD-10-CA is available in both English and French.

China

China adopted ICD-10 in 2002.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic adopted ICD-10 in 1994, just one year after the WHO released it. They keep updating their version to match the international changes.

Denmark

Denmark first started using ICD-10 in its mental health services on January 1, 1994.

Estonia

Estonia adopted ICD-10 on January 1, 1997. However, the chapter about "Mental and behavioural disorders" was already in use from January 1, 1994.

France

France added a special clinical part to ICD-10 in 1997.

Germany

Germany uses ICD-10 German Modification (ICD-10-GM). This version is based on Australia's ICD-10-AM. It was developed between 2003 and 2004.

Hungary

Hungary started using ICD-10 on January 1, 1996.

Korea

A Korean version of ICD-10 has been in use since 2008.

Netherlands

The Dutch version of ICD-10 is called ICD10-nl. It was created in 1994. There is also an online dictionary for it.

Russia

The Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation ordered all health organizations to switch to ICD-10 in 1997.

South Africa

South Africa started using ICD-10 in July 2005. This was a joint effort between the National Department of Health and the Council for Medical Schemes.

Sweden

The current Swedish version of ICD-10 was created in 1997.

Thailand

The ICD-10-TM (Thai Modification) is a Thai language version based on the 2016 ICD-10. A unique thing about its index is that it has both Thai and English words.

United Kingdom

The UK officially started using ICD-10 in 1995. In 2010, the UK government promised to update its version of ICD-10 every three years. On April 1, 2016, the 5th Edition of ICD-10 replaced the 4th Edition. This 5th Edition is still the current version used in the UK.

United States

For reporting diseases, the US uses its own version called ICD-10 Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). They also have a system for coding medical procedures called ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS). These were developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

The US ICD-10-PCS has over 70,000 procedure codes, and ICD-10-CM has over 69,000 diagnosis codes. This is a huge jump from the older ICD-9-CM, which had about 3,800 procedure codes and 14,000 diagnosis codes.

There was some debate when the US decided to switch from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM. Many healthcare providers worried about the large number of new codes and the cost of changing systems. However, CMS decided that the benefits of having more accurate health data and clearer records were worth it.

The US officially started using ICD-10-CM for diagnosis coding and ICD-10-PCS for hospital procedure coding on October 1, 2015. This date was delayed a few times before it finally happened.

Why ICD-10 is Important

As healthcare systems grew and global health trends changed, there was a need for codes that were more accurate and specific. ICD-10's system, which uses both letters and numbers, was a big improvement over the older ICD-9. ICD-9 had fewer codes and a less flexible structure.

When ICD-10 was first put into use, some concerns included the cost and making sure there were enough resources to train healthcare workers and professional coders. But overall, it helps health systems track and understand diseases better.