Methodologic problems of common terminology, measurement, and classification. 11. Modifications and new approaches to taxonomy in long-term care: advantages and limitations of the ICD.
The primary advantage of an internationally accepted classification of diseases is that data from different countries and parts of the world can be compared and even pooled. Two basic conditions have to be fulfilled if the classification is to be used by a heterogeneous group of users and the data are to be compared: there must exist significant agreement on the content of categories, and the categories must be used in the agreed sense. A brief description is given of a WHO project that has attempted to satisfy these two conditions in the field of mental disorders. Additionally, taxonomy in long-term care requires that a classification should 1) be multiaxial and include certain nondisease as well as disease factors that affect treatment and outcome; 2) be a classification of individuals rather than of diseases and reflect the presence of multiple conditions and degrees of severity; 3) allow linkage of episodes of illness and care in the same individual; 4) be suitable for use by nonmedical personnel, who often play a decisive role in long-term care; and 5) be accompanied by glossaries giving operational terms suitable for reliability and validity tests.
D002965:Classification / Q000379:methods*; D003933:Diagnosis; D004194:Disease; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014944:World Health Organization