NLSY79 Attachment 8: Health Codes

• General Information
• Codes for Parts of Body in Health Section
• Modified ICD-9 Codes
• Modified V Codes
• Modified E Codes
• Modified M Codes

General Information on Health Codes

The health section of the NLS survey elicits health problems that limit the amount or kind of work the respondent can do. Those health problems are coded using a modified version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) codes taken from the World Health Organization, International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, 2 vols., WHO, Geneva, 1977 (vol. 1) and 1978 (vol. 2).

The health consolidation code represents the most complete description possible of the respondent's main cause of limitation in work gathered from a reading of the whole health section. It is coded using the modified ICD-9 codes after the rest of the health section has been coded. The health consolidation code, thus, represents the current (proximal) description of the respondent's main cause of limitation in work, and not an underlying cause (remote) preceding the current complaint.

The NLS health codes correspond to the ICD-9 codes with the decimal point deleted, except for the supplemental V, E, and M ICD-9 codes. The supplemental ICD-9 codes were modified by dropping the alpha code and adding the remaining numeric portion of the supplemental codes to a 5-digit number. The following is the numeric conversion for the supplemental codes: V codes = 10000+, E codes = 11000+, and M codes = 12000+. (Zero (0) means no health problem). The changes were necessary because alphas are not used as variable values in the NLS data.

A consolidated list of the modified ICD-9 and the supplemental codes and the medical terms associated with them is attached. For more detail, see the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision. Also included is a list of numeric codes for the body parts that are affected by health problems; these codes were developed by NORC for the 1979-1981 health sections.

Codes for Parts of Body in Health Section

Modified ICD-9 Codes

Modified V Codes

Supplementary Classification of Factors Influencing Health Status and Contact with Health Services

Modified E Codes

Supplementary Classification of External Causes of Injury and Poisoning

Modified M Codes

Coded Nomenclature for Morphology of Neoplasms