icd10 check does not work for codes longer than 4 characters?

[Asha Saavoss]

It seems that icd10 check identifies a code as being invalid if it contains more than 4 characters. For example, in the high-quality claims databases I am working with, icd check is flagging the majority of principal diagnoses as invalid. By far, the most common reason was that the "Code was too long." All codes with more than 4 characters were classified as invalid.

This issue also results in other functions, such as icd10 lookup or icd10 gen to be less helpful, as they are not recognizing the majority of ICD-10 codes being used in practice.

For example, let's say I am attempting to look up the code A01.01 (i.e. the code for Typhoid Meningitis):

. icd10 lookup A01

    A01 Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers

. icd10 lookup A010

    A01.0 Typhoid fever

. icd10 lookup A0101
(no matches found)

The command stops working once the code length exceeds 4 characters.

Is this just a limitation of the command?

Thanks!

[Rebecca Raciborski]

From [D] icd10:

icd10 is a suite of commands for working with the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) ICD-10 diagnosis codes from the second edition (2003) to the fifth edition (2016).

WHO only licenses the 4-digit codes.

If you are in the U.S., you can use the icd10cm command, which covers the ICD-10-CM codes.

. icd10cm lookup A0101

    A01.01 Typhoid meningitis

For an overview of all of Stata's ICD capabilities and to make sure you're using the right command for your codes, you might want to read the introduction to the full suite of commands that is found in [D] icd.

[Asha Saavoss]

Thank you so much Rebecca!