C&P Exam Prep Guide for Cold injury residuals (DC 7122)

For cold injury residuals (DC 7122), the C&P examiner completes the following Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ):

• DBQ DERM Cold Injury Residuals (examiner-only DBQ, no public version. Link opens VA Find-A-Form search)

DBQs are Department of Veterans Affairs Form 21-0960 series documents. Public DBQs are hosted on benefits.va.gov. A handful are examiner-only and are not posted publicly.

The following tiers are reproduced from 38 CFR Part 4, the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities. Toggle between the official VA criteria and a Plain English explanation.

Plain-English summaries are AI-generated to explain the official criteria. The official 38 CFR language is the binding legal standard. When in doubt, ask a VSO.

The counts below are aggregated from published Board of Veterans Appeals decisions for this diagnostic code, among issues the Board granted or denied (remanded issues are not included). Each row reports how often a given evidence type was discussed in the decision text, broken down by outcome. This is a factual aggregate of the public record, not a prediction or recommendation about any specific claim.

• Service treatment records: appeared in 915 granted decisions (2013 denied; 2928 decided total)
• Buddy / lay statements: appeared in 802 granted decisions (1429 denied; 2231 decided total)
• Medical literature: appeared in 52 granted decisions (82 denied; 134 decided total)

In 632 published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions involving this condition, the Board found a C&P examination or medical opinion inadequate. Where the defect could be read from the decision, it was most often one of the following (counts are a floor from the decisions on file, not a total):

1. 141 Failed to address a contention or part of the condition
2. 125 Conclusion given without a supporting rationale
3. 104 Veteran's lay statements not considered
4. 52 Claims file or records not reviewed
5. 50 Opinion relied on the absence of records instead of the evidence
6. 17 Examiner said an opinion would require speculation
7. 10 Flare-ups or functional loss not addressed
8. 6 Exam too old to reflect current severity

An inadequate exam is usually sent back for a new one rather than decided against the veteran. This is a factual report of published decisions, not advice about any exam or claim; whether an exam is adequate is decided case by case.