VA Diagnostic Code 9326Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to another medical condition or substance/medication-induced major or mild neurocognitive disorder

Neurocognitive Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition or Substance/Medication Use (Diagnostic Code 9326)

VA Rating Reference — 38 CFR § 4.130 — Body System: Mental Disorders

Understanding This Condition

Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to another medical condition — or a major or mild neurocognitive disorder that is substance- or medication-induced — is a mental health condition rated by the VA under Diagnostic Code 9326. The VA evaluates it using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders.

Under this formula, the VA does not assign a rating based on a diagnosis alone. Instead, it looks at how the condition affects your occupational and social functioning — in other words, how your symptoms impact your ability to work and to maintain relationships in daily life. The specific symptoms listed at each level are examples the VA uses to gauge the overall degree of impairment.

Available Rating Levels

The VA assigns one of the following disability percentages based on the severity of impairment:

What the VA Looks For at Each Level

100% — Total Occupational and Social Impairment Assigned when symptoms cause total impairment, such as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; and memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name.

70% — Deficiencies in Most Areas Assigned when there is impairment with deficiencies in most areas — such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood — due to symptoms such as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals that interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately, and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a work-like setting); and inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.

50% — Reduced Reliability and Productivity Assigned when there is impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (for example, retention of only highly learned material, or forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; and difficulty establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.

30% — Occasional Decrease in Work Efficiency Assigned when there is impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (while generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to symptoms such as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, and mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, or recent events).

10% — Mild or Transient Symptoms Assigned when impairment is due to mild or transient symptoms that decrease work efficiency and the ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or when symptoms are controlled by continuous medication.

0% — Diagnosed, Minimal Impact Assigned when a mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.

This information is provided as a plain-language summary of the VA rating criteria under 38 CFR § 4.130 for Diagnostic Code 9326. Individual ratings depend on the specific facts of each case as evaluated by the VA.