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ICPC-2 : Technical qualities |
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ICPC-2 : Technical qualities |
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Technical qualities of the classification
ICPC has a biaxial structure with 17 chapters on one axis and seven components on the other.
Chapters are based on body systems with an additional chapter for psychological problems and one for social problems. Each chapter is identified by a single alpha code which is the first character of all rubrics belonging in the chapter (Figure 1). Each chapter is divided into seven components, identified by a range of two digit numeric codes which are not always uniform across chapters.
Structure of ICPC
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Chapters |
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| Components | A | B | D | F | H | K | L | N | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. Symptoms | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Diagnostic, screening, prevention | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Treatment, procedures, medication | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4. Test results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. Administrative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6. Other | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. Diagnoses, disease | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Component 1 provides rubrics for symptoms and complaints. It drew on the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey/Reason for Visit Classification (NAMCS/RFV) and on the RFEC developed by the WHO working party. Rubrics in this component can be used to describe presenting symptoms, and are valuable for describing the problem under management (in a problem list in the medical record) when the condition is as yet ill-defined (eg: general ill-feeling; feeling tired).
Component 7 is the diagnosis/disease component in each chapter. This component will be the one most often used when you have sufficient information to arrive at a diagnosis in the medical record or problem list. It is based on the ICHPPC-2 and most rubrics are directly comparable. Within this diagnostic component are five sub groups which are not numerically uniform across chapters:
* infectious diseases;
* neoplasms;
* injuries;
* congenital anomalies;
* other diseases.
Components 1 and 7 in ICPC function independently in each chapter and either can be used to code patient RFEs, presenting symptoms, and diagnoses or problems managed.
Components 2-6 are common throughout all chapters, each rubric being equally applied to any body system.
Component 2 covers diagnostic screening, prevention. It is useful when there is no underlying pathology for the problem under management eg: immunisation, check up (partial or full); advice and health instruction.
Component 3, treatment, procedures and medication. This component should rarely if ever be used to describe a problem under management as it covers the processes involved in patient care. However for those who wish to code procedures as well as problems, these codes will prove very useful.
Components 2 and 3 are based broadly on the ICD-9 Procedures in Medicine and are heavily influenced by the International Classification of Process in Primary Care (IC-Process-PC).
Component 4, Test results and Component 5, Administrative, provide somewhere to put those difficult problem labels which frequently have no pathology (eg: completing a patient's application for a passport would fall into Component 5).
The structure of ICPC represents a move away from the combined anatomical and aetiology based structure of ICD. For example, where ICD includes a separate chapter for neoplasms, one for infections and infestations, and another for injuries, such problems are distributed among chapters in ICPC, depending on the body system to which they belong. Regrouping of the rubrics (eg for all neoplasms in all body systems) can still be undertaken across chapters if analysis of totals is required.