VA Disability Condition Guides

How VA rates conditions

VA assigns disability ratings using the Schedule for Rating Disabilities in 38 CFR Part 438 CFR Part 4^†. Each diagnostic code lists severity tiers (typically 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, and 100 percent, depending on the body system) tied to specific clinical findings. The rating is meant to reflect the average impairment in earning capacity for the condition at that severity, not the lived intensity of any one veteran’s symptoms. The percentage assigned converts to a monthly compensation amount under the rate tables that VA publishes each December for the following year.

Schedular vs special ratings

A schedular rating is the percentage assigned by reading the clinical findings into the Part 4 schedule and combining multiple ratings under 38 CFR § 4.2538 CFR § 4.25^†. Some situations override or supplement the schedular result. Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1114 and 38 CFR § 3.350 pays additional or substituted statutory amounts for specific losses (loss of use of a creative organ or paired extremity, need for aid and attendance, housebound status, and higher catastrophic-loss tiers). Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) under 38 CFR § 4.16 pays at the 100 percent schedular rate when service-connected conditions prevent substantially gainful employment, even when the combined schedular rating is below 100 percent.

The bilateral factor in plain English

When ratings exist on paired extremities (both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles serving them), 38 CFR § 4.26 adds a bilateral factor: 10 percent of the combined rating of those paired ratings, applied before the result is combined with any other ratings the veteran has38 CFR § 4.26^†. The combined rating estimator on this site applies § 4.26 where relevant; the practical effect is that a knee-and-knee or shoulder-and-shoulder pair tends to produce a higher combined rating than the same two ratings on different body areas.

Presumptive vs direct service connection

Direct service connection requires the veteran to show the three elements of a claim: a current diagnosis, an in-service event or exposure, and a medical nexus connecting the two. Presumptive service connection short-circuits the nexus element by listing conditions that VA presumes to be service-connected when specific service criteria are met. The Agent Orange presumptive list under 38 CFR § 3.309(e)38 CFR § 3.309(e)^†, the Persian Gulf and post-9/11 presumptions under 38 CFR § 3.31738 CFR § 3.317^†, and the PACT Act expansions are the most commonly invoked presumptions today. A presumption does not relieve the veteran of showing the diagnosis and the qualifying service; it replaces the nexus opinion.

DBQ vs rating criteria

A Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) is a structured exam form that a clinician (VA examiner or private treating provider) completes to document the findings VA needs to rate a condition. DBQs are the format; the rating criteria in 38 CFR Part 4 are the rule. The clinician’s job is to record measurements and observations accurately on the DBQ; the rater’s job is to read those findings into the Part 4 schedule and assign the appropriate percentage. A complete DBQ from a treating provider, paired with the clinical record, can carry significant weight on a claim or an increase request.

What each condition guide includes

Every guide on this site is built around the same five-part structure so the reader can move quickly between conditions without re-learning the layout. The first part is a short overview of the condition in plain language, with the relevant diagnostic codes from 38 CFR Part 4 named up front. The second part is the rating-criteria breakdown: each percentage tier and the clinical findings that map to it, taken from the diagnostic code itself rather than paraphrased. The third part is an evidence checklist that names the records, measurements, and forms a CVSO would expect to see for a clean filing. The fourth part is the secondary-conditions list (the same data the secondary mapper uses), so a reader can see at a glance which downstream conditions tend to follow from this one. The fifth part is C&P exam preparation: what the examiner is asked to measure or describe, what the typical exam looks like, and what a veteran can do to make the exam record reflect the lived severity of the condition.

Browse by category

The grid below groups condition guides by body system: mental health, musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, sensory (hearing and vision), neurological, and other (genitourinary, endocrine, digestive, skin). PACT Act, Agent Orange, and Camp Lejeune presumptive conditions are tagged in the card with a presumptive label. Use the sticky pill strip to jump to a category, or scroll the alphabetical grid below the most-claimed band.

The five most-claimed conditions in the VBA workload (PTSD, tinnitus, hearing loss, lumbar strain or degenerative disc disease, and limitation of knee motion) are pinned at the top of the page in a separate band so they are not buried in the alphabetical grid. The pinned band is editorial: it reflects where the largest population of veteran filings concentrates, not a recommendation about which conditions a particular veteran should claim. The right list of conditions to consider for any one veteran is a function of the medical record, the service history, and the input of an accredited representative; this page is a reference library, not an intake.

A note on what is not on this site: VBN does not host screening instruments such as PHQ-9 or PCL-5, does not generate diagnoses, and does not file claims. Mental health content navigates to crisis resources and to information about how mental health conditions are evaluated, never to a self-administered diagnostic test. Filing a claim is a decision for the veteran and an accredited representative; this library exists to make that conversation more informed.