The total number of observations of a particular variable may be grouped according to convenient divisions of the variable range. A group so determined is called a class.... Dictionary of Tropical Medicine
Assignment to predesignated classes on the basis of perceived common characteristics. A means of giving order to a group of disconnected facts.... Community Health
Arrangement of diseases into groups having common characteristics. Useful in efforts to achieve standardization in the methods of presenting mortality and morbidity data from different sources and, therefore, in comparability. May include a systematic numerical notation for each disease entry. Examples include the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death.... Community Health
A range of values for a variable of interest, e.g. a rate, constructed so that this range has a specified probability of including the true value of the variable. The specified probability is called the confidence level, and the end points of the confidence interval are called the confidence limits.... Community Health
A World Health Organisation classi?cation of all known diseases and syndromes. The diseases are divided according to system (respiratory, renal, cardiac, etc.) or type (accidents, malignant growth, etc.). Each of them is given a three-digit number to facilitate computerisation. This classi?cation allows mortality and morbidity rates to be compared nationally and regionally. A revised ICD is published every ten years; a similar classi?cation is being developed for impairments, disabilities and handicaps.... Medical Dictionary
Classification of health and health-related domains that describe body functions and structures, activities and participation. The domains are classified from body, individual and societal perspectives. Since an individual’s functioning and disability occurs in a context, this classification includes a list of environmental factors.... Community Health
A classification of diseases, conditions and other reasons for attendance for primary care. This classification is an adaptation of the ICD but makes allowance for the diagnostic uncertainty that prevails in primary care.... Community Health
The official classification of the World Organisation of Family Doctors. It includes three elements of the doctor-patient encounter: the reason for the encounter; the diagnosis; and the treatment or other action or intervention.... Community Health
A list of diagnoses and identifying codes used by medical practitioners and other health care providers. The coding and terminology provide a uniform language that permits consistent communication on claim forms. Data from earlier time periods were coded using the appropriate revision of the ICD for that time period. Changes in classification of causes of death in successive revisions of the ICD may introduce discontinuities in cause of death statistics over time.... Community Health
A temporary restoration of consciousness after a person has been rendered unconscious from a blow to the head. The victim subsequently relapses into COMA. This is a sign of raised INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE from arterial bleeding and indicates that surgery may be required to control the intracranial haemorrhage. (See also GLASGOW COMA SCALE.)... Medical Dictionary
The interval in an ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (ECG) that registers the electrical activity generated during ventricular contraction of the HEART.... Medical Dictionary
An instrument which assesses recipient’s care needs. It has a number of classification levels, ranging from high to low care. These classification levels are sometimes used for placement, staffing level and reimbursement purposes.... Community Health
As factors such as the cause of death and the incidence of diseases vary in di?erent social strata, the Registrar-General evolved the following social classi?cation, which has now been in o?cial use for many years:
Class I Professional occupations, such as lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned o?cers in the Armed Forces.
Class II Intermediate occupations, such as teachers, managers and nurses.
Class III N: non-manual – for example, clerical workers.
Class III M: skilled manual occupations such as miners and bricklayers.
Class IV Partly skilled occupations, such as agricultural workers.
Class V Unskilled occupations, such as building and dock labourers.... Medical Dictionary
A method of classifying cancers to determine how far they have spread. This helps doctors to determine the best course of treatment and the prognosis; it is also useful in research. Originally de?ned by the American Joint Committee on Cancer, the T applies to the primary tumour, the N to any lymph-node involvement, and the M to any metastatic spread. (See CANCER; METASTASIS; TUMOUR; LYMPH NODES.)... Medical Dictionary
