NCCQ theory past exam questions

NCCQ THEORY PAST
EXAM QUESTIONS



InICD-
105thEdition,whattwotermsareassociatedwiththeuseoffifthcharacterswhencodingfracturedb
ones,andofthesewhatmustberecordedifthetypeisnotindicated?[3Marks]-
Correctanswer~'Open'and'closed'

Aninjurynotindicatedas'open'or'closed'mustberecordedusingfifthcharacter'0'



Inrelationtotheco-morbiditiesstandardinICD-
105thEdition,whywillacuteconditionsalwaysbecoded?-
Correctanswer~Acuteconditionswillalwaysaffectthepatient'sepisodeofcare



WhichoneofthefollowingoptionsmustaninjurybedescribedastobeclassifiedtoICD-
105thEditionChapterXIIIDiseasesofthemusculoskeletalsystemandconnectivetissue?



A.Acute,oldorrecurrent

B.Acute,subacuteorrecurrent

C.Chronic,oldorrecurrent-Correctanswer~C.Chronic,oldorrecurrent



CodesincategoriesU00-
U49arereservedbytheWHOforprovisionalassignmentinwhatsituations?[2Marks]-
Correctanswer~Newdiseasesofuncertainaetiologyoremergencyuse

,WhenisitpermissibletoassignICD-
105thEditionfourthcharactercodesfor'multipleinjuries'inChapterXIXInjury,poisoningandcertai
notherconsequencesofexternalcauses?[3Marks]-
Correctanswer~Onlywherenodetailisdocumentedinthemedicalrecordabouttheindividualsites
ortypesoftheinjury



Namethefivecolumnsofthe'neoplasmtable'foundinVolume3AlphabeticalIndexofICD-
105thEditionrelatedtobehaviour.[5Marks]-Correctanswer~Malignantprimary

Malignantsecondary

Insitu

Benign

Uncertainorunknownbehaviour



InICD-
105thEdition,thedaggerandasterisksystemprovidesadualclassificationofdiagnosticstatements
;whatdoeseachsymbolrepresent?[2Marks]-
Correctanswer~Thedagger(†)representstheunderlyinggeneraliseddisease(alsoreferredtoasae
tiology).Theasterisk(*)representsthemanifestationofthatdisease



InICD-
105thEdition,anaemiamustnotbecodedinwhatthreeneoplasticblooddisordersasitisanaturalsy
mptomintheseconditions?[3Marks]-Correctanswer~Leukaemia,myelomaandmyelodysplasia



InICD-105thEdition,whataresequelaecodesusedtoindicate?[2Marks]-
Correctanswer~Theyareusedtoindicatethatacurrentconditionordiseasehasbeencausedbyapre
viouslyoccurringdiseaseorinjurywhichhasbeentreatedandisnolongerpresent



WhatpunctuationisusedinboththeICD-
105thEditionTabularListandtheAlphabeticalIndextoindicatetherearefourthcharactersubdivisi
ons?-Correctanswer~Point-dash(.-)

,InOPCS-4,whatdoesNOCstandforandinwhatchapterisitused?[2Marks]-
Correctanswer~NOCstandsforNotOtherwiseClassifiableandisusedonlyinthesubsidiaryChapter
Y.



NamethefourSectionsoftheOPCS-4AlphabeticalIndex.[4Marks]-
Correctanswer~(AlphabeticalIndexof)InterventionsandSurgicalProcedures

(AlphabeticalIndexofSurgical)Eponyms

(AlphabeticalIndexofSurgical)Abbreviations

(AlphabeticalIndexofCommonSurgical)Suffixes



WhenandhowarecodesfromOPCS-
4ChapterSSkinusedtoenhanceacodefromanotherbodysystemchapter?[3Marks]-
Correctanswer~ThecodefromChapterSmustbeassigned:

•Whenitprovidesfurtherinformationabouttheprocedurethatisnotspecifiedintheprimarybodys
ystemcode.

•Inasecondaryposition,directlyafterthebodysystemcodeitisenhancing



DescribetheOPCS-4standardforcodingexcisionandbiopsyprocedures.[4Marks]-
Correctanswer~Whenanexcisionandbiopsyisperformedonthesamesiteduringthesametheatre
visit,onlyassignacode(s)fortheexcision,asabiopsyisanintegralpartoftheexcision



InwhichpositionmustcodesfromOPCS-
4chaptersYSubsidiaryClassificationofMethodsofOperationandZSubsidiaryClassificationofSites
ofOperationbesequenced?-Correctanswer~Theymustonlyeverbecodedinasecondaryposition



InOPCS-
4,howshoulda'failedintubation'atanuppergastrointestinaltractendoscopybereflectedinthecod
edclinicalrecord?[2Marks]-
Correctanswer~Theproceduremustnotbecodedunlessthepointofabandonmentisbeyondthem
outh

, WhatisthemainaxisofclassificationwithinOPCS-
4andwhatarethefourlevelsofcomplexityassociatedwithit?[5Marks]-
Correctanswer~Themainaxisoftheclassificationisbodysystem.Thefourlevelsofcomplexityarem
ajor,intermediate,minorandnon-operative



TomaintainthestructureoftheOPCS-
4classification,.8and.9codesareavailableinbothprincipalandextendedcategories,butfromwhic
honeoftheseisitacceptabletoassign.8and.9codes?-Correctanswer~Principalcategories



Describethestandardwhencodingmultipledeliveries(e.g.twins,triplets)inOPCS-
4ChapterRFemaleGenitalTractAssociatedwithPregnancy,ChildbirthandPuerperium.[3Marks]-
Correctanswer~Eachdifferenttypeofdeliverymustberecordedwiththemostseriousbeingseque
ncedfirst.Whereallmethodsofdeliveryareidentical,onlyonecodeisrequired



Whereanunintentionalaction,suchasperforationofanorgan,occursduringaprocedure,howshou
ldthisbereflectedinthecodedclinicalrecord?TheanswershouldreflectbothICD-
105thEditionandOPCS-4.[3Marks]-
Correctanswer~ThisunintentionalactionmustnotberecordedusingOPCS-
4codes.Anysurgicalproceduresperformedtocorrecttheunintentionalactionmustberecordedusi
ngtheappropriateOPCS-
4code(s).Anyassociateddiagnosisresultingfromtheunintentionalaction,e.g.accidentalperforati
onoforgan,willbecodedusingtheappropriateICD-10code(s)



InICD-105thEdition,whatistheprimarydiagnosisdefinition?[7Marks]-
Correctanswer~Thefirstdiagnosisfield(s)ofthecodedclinicalrecord(theprimarydiagnosis)willco
ntainthemainconditiontreatedorinvestigatedduringtherelevantepisodeofhealthcare.Wheread
efinitivediagnosishasnotbeenmadebytheresponsibleclinicianthemainsymptom,abnormalfind
ings,orproblemshouldberecordedinthefirstdiagnosisfieldofthecodedclinicalrecord



ICD:Describetheruleinrelationtocodestructurewhenathreecharactercategoryisnotsubdividedi
ntofourcharactersubdivisions,andwhythisisused.[5Marks]-
Correctanswer~The'X'fillermustbeassignedinthefourthcharacterfieldsothecodesareofastanda
rdlengthfordataprocessingandvalidation.Whereathreecharactercoderequiresassignmentofbo
ththe'X'fillerandafifthcharactersubdivision,the'X'fillermustcontinuetoberecordedinthefourthf
ieldbeforethefifthcharacter