What is International Classification of Diseases (ICD) - Meaning and definition

Published by Roberto Wenk. Reviewed by Alison Ramsey. Last updated date: January 7, 2019.

The ICD has become the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological and many health management purposes, as well as for clinical use.
It is used to classify diseases and other health problems recorded on many types of health and vital records, including death certificates and health records. In addition to enabling the storage and retrieval of diagnostic information for clinical, epidemiological, and quality purposes, these records also provide the basis for the compilation of national mortality and morbidity statistics by World Health Organization Member States.

ICD-10 Version: 2016

World Health Organization. Classifications. Internet. Accessed on July 3, 2016.

Published by Roberto Wenk. Reviewed by Alison Ramsey. Last updated date: January 7, 2019.

ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list produced and maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases.

The code set allows more than 14,400 different codes and permits the tracking of many new diagnoses. The codes can be expanded to over 16,000 codes by using optional sub-classifications.
The WHO provides detailed information about ICD online, and makes available a set of materials online, such as an ICD-10 online browser, ICD-10 training, ICD-10 online training, ICD-10 online training support, and study guide materials for download.

The International version of ICD should not be confused with national modifications of ICD that frequently include much more detail, and sometimes have separate sections for procedures.

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Internet. Accessed on June 14, 2016.

International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

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