C&P Exam for Schizophrenia (DC 9201)

Diagnostic code: 9201Condition: SchizophreniaRegulation: 38 CFR § 4.130DBQ: DBQ PSYCH Mental Disorders

Which form the examiner uses

For schizophrenia (DC 9201), the C&P examiner completes the following Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ):

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.

What the examiner records

The fields below are reproduced from the DBQ form the examiner completes for this diagnostic code. This is the structural map of the form, showing what the examiner is asked to measure, observe, and record. It is a factual reproduction of the public DBQ, not advice on how to answer.

This DBQ evaluates mental disorders (other than PTSD and eating disorders) for VA disability rating, documenting diagnosis, clinical findings, symptoms, behavioral observations, and competency.

How DC 9201 maps to this DBQ: for this diagnostic code specifically, the examiner typically completes sections I-VII of this form. Section I is the condition-specific section for this code.

DIAGNOSIS (Section I)
  • A1. Does the Veteran now have or has he or she ever been diagnosed with a mental disorder(s)?
  • Mental Disorder Diagnosis #1:
  • ICD Code: (Diagnosis #1)
  • Comments, if any: (Diagnosis #1)
  • Mental Disorder Diagnosis #2:
  • ICD Code: (Diagnosis #2)
  • Comments, if any: (Diagnosis #2)
  • Mental Disorder Diagnosis #3:
  • ICD Code: (Diagnosis #3)
  • Comments, if any: (Diagnosis #3)
  • If additional diagnoses, list using the above format:
  • A2. Medical diagnosis relevant to the understanding or management of the mental health disorder (to include TBI):
  • ICD Code (A2)
  • Comments, if any: (A2)
CLINICAL FINDINGS (Section II)
    SYMPTOMS (Section III)
    • 3A. For VA rating purposes, check all symptoms that apply to the Veteran's diagnoses
    • Depressed Mood
    • Anxiety
    • Suspiciousness
    • Panic attacks that occur weekly or less often
    • Panic attacks more than once a week
    • Near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively
    • Chronic sleep impairment
    • Mild memory loss, such as forgetting names, directions or recent events
    • Impairment of short and long term memory, for example, retention of only highly learned material, while forgetting to complete tasks
    • Memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name
    • Flattened affect
    • Circumstantial, circumlocutory or stereotyped speech
    • Speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant
    • Difficulty in understanding complex commands
    • Impaired judgment
    • Impaired abstract thinking
    • Gross impairment in thought processes or communication
    • Disturbances of motivation and mood
    • Difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships
    • Difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, including work or a work like setting
    • Inability to establish and maintain effective relationships
    • Suicidal ideation
    • Obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities
    • Impaired impulse control, such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence
    • Spatial disorientation
    • Persistent delusions or hallucinations
    • Grossly inappropriate behavior
    • Persistent danger of hurting self or others
    • Neglect of personal appearance and hygiene
    • Intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living, including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene
    • Disorientation to time or place
    BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS (Section IV)
    • 4A. Behavioral Observations
    OTHER SYMPTOMS (Section V)
    • 5A. Does the Veteran have any other symptoms attributable to mental disorders that are not listed above?
    • If 'Yes,' describe
    COMPETENCY (Section VI)
    • 6A. Is the Veteran capable of managing his or her financial affairs?
    • If 'No,' specify each injury or disease resulting in incompetency and provide a rationale to support this finding:
    REMARKS (Section VII)
    • 7A. Remarks (Including any testing results), if any:

    Rating Levels for DC 9201

    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.

    Evidence cited in published BVA decisions for DC 9201

    The counts below are aggregated from published Board of Veterans Appeals decisions for this diagnostic code. 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.

    • VA examination: appeared in 26 granted decisions (9 denied, 9 remanded; 44 total)
    • Private medical opinion: appeared in 11 granted decisions (4 denied, 3 remanded; 18 total)
    • Service treatment records: appeared in 4 granted decisions (0 denied, 5 remanded; 9 total)
    • Medical literature: appeared in 2 granted decisions (0 denied, 0 remanded; 2 total)
    • Buddy / lay statements: appeared in 2 granted decisions (1 denied, 1 remanded; 4 total)
    • Nexus letter: appeared in 1 granted decision (0 denied, 0 remanded; 1 total)

    Standardized screening instruments at the C&P exam

    The following standardized screens are administered at the C&P exam for this diagnostic code. Questions and scoring are reproduced verbatim from VA's General Medical Separation Health Assessment DBQ (the same instruments are used at compensation and pension exams).

    Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) Depression Screen

    Two-item depression screen. Each item scored 0-3 (0 = Not at all, 1 = Several days, 2 = More than half the days, 3 = Nearly every day). Total range 0-6.

    1. Over the past two weeks, how often have you been bothered by little interest or pleasure in doing things?
    2. Over the past two weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?

    Scoring: Positive screen if total score is 3 or greater.

    Suicide Risk Secondary Screen (Columbia-style)

    Eight-item secondary screen administered when the primary suicide-risk question elicits any response above 'Not at all'. Positive screen = 'yes' to questions 3, 4, 5, or 8.

    1. Over the past month, have you wished you were dead or wished you could go to sleep and not wake up?
    2. Have you actually had any thoughts of killing yourself?
    3. Over the past month, have you been thinking about how you might do this?
    4. Over the past month, have you had these thoughts and had some intention of acting on them?
    5. Over the past month, have you started to work out or worked out the details of how to kill yourself?
    6. If yes to question 5: At any time in the past month, did you intend to carry out this plan?
    7. In your lifetime, have you ever done anything, started to do anything, or prepared to do anything to end your life?
    8. If yes to question 7: Was this within the past three months?

    Scoring: Positive screen if 'yes' to question 3, 4, 5, or 8. Immediate emergency response procedures apply when there is concern about an immediate threat.

    Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test - Consumption (AUDIT-C)

    Three-item alcohol-use screen. Items scored 0-4 each. Mental-health screening commonly includes AUDIT-C because substance use frequently co-occurs with PTSD, depression, and anxiety.

    1. How often did you have a drink containing alcohol? (Never / Monthly or less / 2-4 times per month / 2-3 times per week / 4 or more times per week)
    2. How many drinks containing alcohol did you have on a typical day when you were drinking? (1 or 2 / 3 or 4 / 5 or 6 / 7 to 9 / 10 or more)
    3. How often did you have six or more drinks on one occasion in the past year? (Never / Less than monthly / Monthly / Weekly / Daily, or almost daily)

    Scoring: Positive screen if total score is 5 or more (men). Women's threshold uses a four-or-more-drinks variant of question 3.

    What the Board discussed in granted decisions for DC 9201

    The themes below were extracted by clustering 500 grant-factor sentences from published Board of Veterans Appeals decisions for this diagnostic code. Frequencies indicate how often each theme appeared in the sample. This is a factual aggregate of the public record, not advice or strategy for any specific claim.

    1. 32% Benefit of the doubt doctrine stated or applied
      The Board cited the statutory benefit-of-the-doubt rule, noting that when positive and negative evidence is in approximate balance, the claimant prevails, and either applied it to grant the claim or noted its inapplicability because the preponderance favored one side.
      162 of 500 sample sentences
    2. 19% Medical nexus opinion linking schizophrenia to service
      A VA, private, or VHA examiner opined that the Veteran's schizophrenia or psychotic symptoms were at least as likely as not incurred in, caused by, or otherwise related to active military service.
      97 of 500 sample sentences
    3. 13% Evidence in equipoise supporting service connection grant
      The Board found the lay and medical evidence at least in relative equipoise on whether the Veteran's schizophrenia or psychiatric disorder was service-connected, warranting a grant of service connection.
      67 of 500 sample sentences
    4. 8% Preponderance of evidence favoring service connection grant
      The Board found that the weight or preponderance of competent, credible, and probative evidence affirmatively supported a finding that the Veteran's schizophrenia was incurred in or related to service, without needing to invoke the benefit-of-the-doubt rule.
      38 of 500 sample sentences
    5. 6% In-service onset or prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia noted
      Examiners or the Board recorded that the Veteran's schizophrenic symptoms, including prodromal manifestations, were documented as having appeared or begun during the period of active military service.
      30 of 500 sample sentences
    6. 4% Examiner directed to provide at-least-as-likely-as-not opinion
      The Board or remand instructions directed an examiner to opine whether a specific disability, including schizophrenia, was at least as likely as not related to, caused by, or incurred during the Veteran's military service.
      19 of 500 sample sentences
    7. 4% First-year presumptive period for psychosis cited
      The Board or examiner noted that the Veteran's schizophrenia or psychotic disorder manifested to a compensable degree within one year of discharge from service, supporting presumptive service connection.
      18 of 500 sample sentences
    8. 4% Higher disability rating granted with benefit of the doubt
      The Board applied the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine to find that the Veteran's psychiatric symptoms more nearly approximated the criteria for an increased schedular rating.
      18 of 500 sample sentences
    9. 3% TDIU granted based on equipoise or benefit of the doubt
      The Board found the evidence at least in equipoise or resolved reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor to conclude that service-connected disabilities, including schizophrenia, rendered the Veteran unable to maintain substantially gainful employment.
      15 of 500 sample sentences
    10. 3% Negative or unfavorable nexus opinion recorded
      An examiner opined that a claimed condition was not at least as likely as not related to service, or that the evidence did not support a causal relationship between schizophrenia and military service.
      14 of 500 sample sentences
    11. 2% Continuity of psychiatric symptomatology since service recorded
      The Board found the evidence in equipoise or supportive of a finding that chronic psychiatric symptoms, including psychosis, were continuous from the time of service separation to the current disability.
      12 of 500 sample sentences
    12. 2% Aggravation of pre-existing psychiatric condition documented
      The Board or examiner recorded findings that the Veteran's pre-existing schizophrenia or psychiatric disorder was at least as likely as not permanently aggravated beyond its natural progression during active military service.
      10 of 500 sample sentences
    View the full DC 9201 pageSearch BVA decisions for this codeAbout DBQ forms

    Disclaimer: This page reproduces public Department of Veterans Affairs forms (DBQs) and verbatim text from 38 CFR Part 4 (the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities). It is informational only and is not legal or medical advice. For guidance on a specific claim, contact a VA-accredited representative.