VA Disability Conditions and Ratings
Everything you need in one place to understand how the VA rates every disability, condition by condition. Browse plain-English claims guides for the most-claimed conditions, grouped by body system, or jump straight to the rating criteria for any of the 725 VA diagnostic codes. Each guide covers how the condition is rated, the evidence that wins, common secondary conditions, and what Board appeal decisions show.
Look up any condition (DC 5000-9999) by name, symptom, or body system. Open lookup →
Mental health
Digestive
Celiac Disease
Rated by analogy to intestinal disease; diet, malabsorption, and secondaries.
Crohn's Disease
DC 7326 inflammatory-bowel criteria and extraintestinal secondaries.
Ulcerative Colitis
Rated on severity of attacks, malnutrition, and remission.
IBS & IBD
Irritable bowel and inflammatory bowel disease, side by side.
GERD
Acid reflux rated by analogy, often secondary to other conditions.
Peptic Ulcer
Gastric and duodenal ulcers rated on severity and recurrence.
Musculoskeletal
Arthritis
Degenerative and rheumatoid arthritis ratings.
Joints & Painful Motion
Range of motion, DeLuca, and the painful-motion rule.
Sciatica & Radiculopathy
Nerve pain rated off the spine.
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine)
How the spine formula sets your back rating.
Neck (Cervical Spine)
Range-of-motion thresholds for the neck.
Respiratory
Heart and blood pressure
Hypertension
Blood-pressure thresholds and the diastolic rule.
Coronary Artery Disease
Code 7005, METs testing, and ejection fraction.
Endocrine
Diabetes
Code 7913, insulin, and diabetic complications.
Hypothyroidism
Underactive thyroid ratings and common secondaries.
Genitourinary
Erectile Dysfunction
Code 7522, SMC-K, and the secondary pathway.
Urinary Conditions
Frequency, voiding dysfunction, and incontinence.
Neurological and sleep
Migraines
Prostrating attacks and code 8100.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Residuals of TBI and the 10 facets of cognition.
Restless Legs Syndrome
Rated by analogy; sleep and secondary links.
How TBI Is Rated
Walkthrough of the TBI rating table, facet by facet.
Skin
Hearing and vision
Hearing Loss & Tinnitus
The most-claimed conditions in the VA system.
Eye Conditions
Visual acuity, field loss, and how eye ratings are set.
Cancer and toxic exposure
Cancer
Active-treatment 100% rating, then a residuals rating.
Gulf War Illness
Undiagnosed illness and chronic multisymptom conditions.
Fibromyalgia
Widespread pain and Gulf War presumptions.
Toxic Exposure Hub
PACT Act presumptives, burn pits, Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune, and more.
This hub is for educational purposes only and is not medical or legal advice. Rating criteria come from 38 CFR Part 4. For help with your claim, find a VSO representative near you.