Croatian initial experience with the suitability of the ICIDH for classifying health status.

As consequences of disease and disorders cannot be expressed with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH) was tested on a data sample of 1800 persons from the Croatian Register of Psychophysical Development Disorders and Other Disabilities (CRPDOD). Persons with either a visceral impairment, skeletal impairment, disfiguring impairment or one from the group of generalized, sensory and other impairments, were selected. Despite favourable results some amendments are suggested. These involve several examples of coding practice, modified elaboration of consciousness and continence impairments, newly created categories and subcategories in classifications I and D, as well as common codes for cases having several disability categories simultaneously.