BASIC (09-00)

A. Description of listings

The Listing of Impairments describes, for each of the major body systems, impairments which are considered severe enough to prevent a person from doing any gainful activity. Most of the listed impairments are permanent or expected to result in death, or a specific statement of duration is made. For all others, the evidence must show that the impairment has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.

The Listing of Impairments consists of two parts:

1. Part A

Part A contains medical criteria that apply to adult persons age 18 and over. The medical criteria in Part A may also be applied in evaluating impairments in persons under age 18 if the disease processes have a similar effect on adults and younger persons.

2. Part B

Part B contains additional medical criteria that apply only to the evaluation of impairments of persons under age 18. Certain criteria in Part A do not give appropriate consideration to the particular effects of the disease processes in childhood; i.e., when the disease process is generally found only in children or when the disease process differs in its effect on children than on adults. Additional criteria are included in Part B, and the impairment categories are, to the extent possible, numbered to maintain a relationship with their counterparts in Part A. In evaluating disability for a person under age 18, Part B will be used first. If the medical criteria in Part B do not apply, then the medical criteria in Part A will be used.

B. Description of sections

Each section of the Listing of Impairments has a general introduction containing definitions of key concepts used in that section. Certain specific medical findings, some of which are required in establishing a diagnosis or in confirming the existence of an impairment for the purpose of this listing, are also given in the narrative introduction. If the medical findings needed to support a diagnosis are not given in the introduction or elsewhere in the listing, the diagnosis must still be established on the basis of medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques.

Following the introduction in each section, the required level of severity of impairment is shown under "Category of Impairments" by one or more sets of medical findings. The medical findings consist of symptoms, signs, and laboratory findings.

SSA does not consider an impairment to be one listed in Appendix 1 solely because it has the diagnosis of a listed impairment. It must also have the findings shown in the listing of that impairment.

Example:

A condition diagnosed as addiction to alcohol or drugs, will not, by itself, be a basis for determining whether a claimant is, or is not, disabled. As with any other medical condition, we will decide if the disability is based on symptoms, signs, and laboratory findings.