Description
For all current conditions associated with a medical event or prescribed medicine during the year, ICD10CODE reports the ICD-10-CM code for the condition. To preserve confidentiality, AHRQ collapsed the fully specified ICD-10-CM codes into 3-digit diagnosis code categories. Prior to 2016, conditions are coded to ICD-9-CM codes (ICD9CODE).
IPUMS MEPS reports the universe for each variable based on a thorough review of the original MEPS documentation. Investigating the data may reveal cases that do not meet the stated universe. Users are encouraged to validate universes for their analyses.
ICD-10-CM data collection and editing
To determine the fully specified ICD-10-CM code, interviewers recorded the medical condition reported by the respondent as verbatim text, which was then coded by professional coders. Starting with Panel 23 Round 5 and Panel 24 Round 3, medical conditions were recorded by the interviewer using a condition pick-list with ICD-10-CM codes already assigned to conditions in the list. If a reported condition was not in the pick-list, the verbatim text was recorded and then coded to ICD-10-CM codes by professional coders.
Conditions are coded "999" (Unknown) for three reasons: 1) the text indicated that the condition was unknown; 2) the text indicated the condition could not be diagnosed by a doctor; or 3) the specified condition was not codeable.
To preserve confidentiality, the fully specified ICD-10-CM codes have been collapsed to 3-digit code categories and some codes are recoded to "999" (Unknown) for conditions that occur less than 20 times within a year's conditions file for the total unweighted population or less than 200,00 for the weighted population. ICD10CODE was also recoded to "999" if the condition denoted a pregnancy for a person younger than 16 or older than 44.
ICD10CODE is on the condition record (see RECTYPE for more details on the different record types in IPUMS MEPS). Variables offered on the condition record through IPUMS MEPS are derived from the Medical Conditions file provided by AHRQ. Please see our overview of the event, medical conditions, and prescribed medicines variables, including how those variables are offered through IPUMS MEPS, and general considerations to keep in mind when conducting analyses using these variables.
Codes and Frequencies
Comparability
The way conditions are coded to ICD-10-CM codes changed starting with Panel 23 Round 5 and Panel 24 Round 3. Beginning with those panels, medical conditions were recorded by the interviewer using a condition pick-list with ICD-10-CM codes already assigned to conditions in the list. If a reported condition was not in the pick-list, the verbatim text was recorded and then coded to ICD-10-CM codes by professional coders. Before Panel 23 Round 5 and Panel 24 Round 3, all conditions were recorded by the interviewer as verbatim text and then coded to ICD-10-CM codes by professional coders. There are no other comparability issues.
Universe
- 2016-2017: All current conditions.
- 2018-2021: All current conditions that link to an event or prescribed medicine record during the year.
Availability
- 2016-2021
Weights
- 2016-2021 : PERWEIGHT
