Musculoskeletal System and Growth Impairments

• Author: David A. Morton III
• Pages: 27-176

1-21

Chapter 1

Musculoskeletal System

and Growth Impairments

Contents

Part I – Adults

§1.00 Musculoskeletal System

§1.01 Category of Impairments, Musculoskeletal

§1.02 Major Dysfunction of a Joint

§1.03 Reconstructive Surgery or Arthrodesis of a Major Weight-Bearing Joint

§1.04 Disorders of the Spine

§1.05 Amputation (due to any cause)

§1.06 Fracture of Femur, Tibia, Pelvis, Tarsals

§1.07 Fracture of an Upper Extremity with Non-Union

§1.08 Soft Tissue Injury

Part II – Children

§100.00 Low Birth Weight and Failure to Thrive

§100.01 Category of Impairments, Low Birth Weight and Failure to Thrive

§100.04 Low birth weight in infants from birth to attainment of age 1

§100.05 Failure to thrive in children from birth to attainment of age 3

§101.00 Musculoskeletal System

§101.01 Category of Impairments, Musculoskeletal

§101.02 Major Dysfunction of a Joint

§101.03 Reconstructive Surgery or Arthrodesis of a Major Weight-Bearing Joint

§101.04 Disorders of the Spine

§101.05 Amputation (due to any cause)

§101.06 Fracture of Femur, Tibia, Pelvis, Tarsals

§101.07 Fracture of Upper Extremity with Non-Union

§101.08 Soft Tissue Injury

MEDICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY 1-22

Part III – Forms

§1.02F Major Dysfunction of Joints

§1.03F Reconstructive Joint Surgery

§1.04F Disorders of the Spine

§1.05F Amputation from Any Cause

§1.06F Pelvis and Lower Extremity Fractures

§1.07F Upper Extremity Fractures

§1.08F Soft Tissue Injuries

§100.04F Failure

1-23 MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND GROWTH IMPAIRMENTS §1.00

Form Reference:

Forms 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.06, 1.07, 1.08, and

100.04 can be used to obtain optimal information from

treating physicians regarding the impairments dis-

cussed in this chapter.

General Legal Text Cross-References:

See Bohr’s Social Security Issues Annotated (James

Publishing), §307, regarding specific court cases

involving fibromyalgia, and §313 about other muscu-

loskeletal impairments.

Part I – Adults

§1.00 Musculoskeletal System

[The applicable Listing of Impairments introduces

each chapter and is typeset in Helvetica. Author

comments follow each Listing subsection and are type-

set in Times.]

SSA Listing of Impairments

A. Disorders of the musculoskeletal system may

result from hereditary, congenital, or acquired

pathologic processes. Impairments may result from

infectious, inflammatory, or degenerative processes,

traumatic or developmental events, or neoplastic,

vascular, or toxic/metabolic diseases.

B. Loss of function.

1. General. Under this section, loss of function

may be due to bone or joint deformity or destruc-

tion from any cause; miscellaneous disorders of the

spine with or without radiculopathy or other neu-

rological deficits; amputation; or fractures or soft

tissue injuries, including burns, requiring prolonged

periods of immobility or convalescence. For inflam-

matory arthritides that may result in loss of function

because of inflammatory peripheral joint or axial

arthritis or sequelae, or because of extra-articular

features, see §14.00B6. Impairments with neuro-

logical causes are to be evaluated under §11.00ff.

2. How We Define Loss of Function in

These Listings

Author’s Note

[Loss of function should include SSA evalu-

ation of the claimant’s activities of daily living

(ADL’s), as well as the formal medical evidence.

While the SSA may provide forms for the claim-

ant or their representative to complete, it should

not be assumed that the SSA will fully develop

functional capacities if not given quality informa-

tion. Many claimants carelessly just write “No” or

“None” in all the ADL form blanks when the SSA

requests information. Or the skimpy and obscure

answers are not revealing. It is in the best interest

of the claimant that they or their representative give

the SSA high-quality ADL information. There are

numerous SSA forms eliciting information about

ADL’s and functional limitations, such as the SSA-

3368 Disability Report and the SSA-3369 Work

History Report, in addition to specific ADL forms

the SSA asks to have completed at the very begin-

ning of the disability determination process. Every

effort should be made to complete these forms with

specific examples, rather than to answer “No” or in

a generalization.

Legal text cross-reference: See Social

Security Issues Annotated (Bohr), §204.8, regard-

ing the impact of daily activities on credibility.]

a. General. Regardless of the cause(s) of a mus-

culoskeletal impairment, functional loss for pur-

poses of these listings is defined as the inability

to ambulate effectively on a sustained basis for

any reason, including pain associated with the

underlying musculoskeletal impairment, or the

inability to perform fine and gross movements

effectively on a sustained basis for any reason,

including pain associated with the underlying

musculoskeletal impairment. The inability to

ambulate effectively or the inability to perform

SSA Pub No. 64-039 Listing of Impairments