I need a list of the most common ICD9 codes (diagnoses) that have
resulted in Social Security disability allowances in the past 5 years?
Five digit ICD9 codes are preferred.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 01 Aug 2006 18:51 PDT

krh777-ga,

I don't think you're likely to get exactly what you're looking for.

Social Security no longer closely adheres to ICD9 codings:

"...Classification of impairments, by body system, that identifies the
medical condition(s) on which disability-related benefits are based.
Before 1985, the coding of the primary and secondary diagnoses for
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income claimants was in
accordance with the International Classification of Diseases: 9th
Revision, Clinical Modification, 4th ed., using 4-digit ICD-9 codes.
In 1985, the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented a
revised method to determine and enter impairment codes in
administrative records. This revised approach provides for a modified
impairment coding system, generally using 3 digits (followed by zero),
loosely based on the ICD-9 codes. For research purposes, the ICD-9
codes and SSA impairment codes are, typically, not identical. However,
the diagnostic groupings shown in the statistical tables closely
parallel the major ICD-9 disease classifications..."


Their alternative coding system is highly detailed, but the statistics
that they release are highly aggregated, and look like this:


http://www.esnips.com/doc/bcbe13cb-ddaf-4099-b849-c41be52ecb74/socialsecurity.jpg

[click on "Original Size" if it's hard to see ]


Will something like that meet your needs?


pafalafa-ga