Old age finally a disease? Controversy around the new International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Problems ICD-11

Authors

  • Magdalena Wieczorkowksa Uniwersytet Medyczny w Łodzi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2300-1690.23.01

Keywords:

ICD-11, old age, ageing, medicalization, health inequalities

Abstract

During works over the new revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Problems ICD-11, biological aging has been proposed to be recognized as a disease. Although in the literature, biomedicalization of old age and aging was described much earlier (see Estes and Binney), but the decision about equating of biological aging with the state of disease and its official legitimization in the ICD seems to have serious outcomes for the perception of the end stage of human life. The idea of the ultimate medicalization of old age and aging has found supporters and opponents. The aim of the article is an analysis of discussion conducted in scientific journals as well as in the media space based on the reconstruction of standpoints and arguments used by supporters and opponents of biomedicalization of old age. Supporters of medicalization of old age and aging pointed on real benefits from recognition of biological aging as a disease (effective distributions of medications, insurance policies allowing for cost coverage of the disease treatment). Opponents underlined ageistic attitudes of supporters as well as pointed on such consequences as further exclusion of older adults from social life and health services and health inequalities in aging societies. Realization of the above aim will enable also to indicate multidimensional consequences of medicalization of biological aging.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Magdalena Wieczorkowksa, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Łodzi

    Magdalena Wieczorkowska – dr n. hum., socjolożka, metodolożka badań społecznych, kierowniczka Zakładu Socjologii na Uniwersytecie Medycznym w Łodzi. Członkini Sekcji Socjologii Zdrowia i Medycyny oraz Sekcji Socjologii Ciała Polskiego Towarzystwa Socjologicznego. Zainteresowania naukowe dotyczą procesów medykalizacji i farmaceutykalizacji we współczesnych społeczeństwach zachodnich, procesów starzenia się społeczeństw, społeczno-kulturowych i medycznych aspektów postrzegania, funkcjonowania i oddziaływania na ciało a także zagadnień związanych z nauczaniem medycyny w środowisku wielokulturowym. Kierowniczka i członek zespołów realizujących projekty międzynarodowe w ramach EIT HEALTH (CoActive, Healthy Loneliness, CitizenAct) oraz ERASMUS + (Healthy Loneliness+). Współpracuje z lokalnymi organizacjami non profit działającymi w obszarze senioralnym. Autorka licznych publikacji poświęconych problematyce medykalizacji, starzenia się oraz ciała.

References

Banerjee, D., Mukhopadhyay, S., Rabheru, K., Ivbijaro, G., & de Mendonca Lima, C. A. (2021). Not a disease: a global call for action urging revision of the ICD-11 classification of old age. The Lancet Healthy Longevity, 2(10), e610–e612. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666–7568(21)00201–4

Binney, E. A., Estes, C. L., & Ingman, S. R. (1990). Medicalization, public policy and the elderly: Social services in jeopardy? Social Science & Medicine, 30(7), 761–771. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277–9536(90)90199–3

Chen, X., Mao, G., & Leng, S. X. (2014). Frailty syndrome: an overview. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 9, 433. https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S45300

Clarke, A. E., Mamo, L., Fishman, J. R., Shim, J. K., & Fosket, J. R. (2003). Biomedicalization: Technoscientific transformations of health, illness, and U.S. biomedicine. American Sociological Review, 68(2), 161–194. https://doi.org/10.2307/1519765

Clegg, A., Young, J., Iliffe, S., Rikkert, M., & Rockwood, K. (2013). Frailty in elderly people. Lancet, 381, 752–762.

Conrad, P. (2007). The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved from http://faculty.trinity.edu/mkearl/ger-med.html

Conway, J. (2022). Debate Rages on the Inclusion of Old Age in the ICD-11. Retrieved 15 September 2022, from https://www.lifespan.io/news/debate-rages-on-the-inclusion-of-old-age-in-the-icd-11/

Donizzetti, A. R. (2019). Ageism in an Aging Society: The Role of Knowledge, Anxiety about Aging, and Stereotypes in Young People and Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/IJERPH16081329

Ebrahim, S. (2002). The medicalisation of old age: Should be encouraged. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 324(7342), 861. https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJ.324.7342.861

Estes, C. L., & Binney, E. A. (1989). The Biomedicalization of Aging: Dangers and Dilemmas. The Gerontologist, 29(5), 587–596. https://doi.org/10.1093/GERONT/29.5.587

EurekAlert. (2018). World Health Organization adds extension code. Retrieved 15 September 2022, from https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/601057?fbclid=IwAR1OAOLF8XzzESBd1FYUPjzfTkykWQLnxlFx3KhwOa-vw8uEK9FVkBOsYns

Horvath, S. (2013). DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types. Genome Biology, 14(10). https://doi.org/10.1186/GB-2013–14–10-R115

Horvath, S., Erhart, W., Brosch, M., Ammerpohl, O., Von Schönfels, W., Ahrens, M., … Hampe, J. (2014). Obesity accelerates epigenetic aging of human liver. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(43), 15538–15543. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.1412759111

Horvath, S., & Levine, A. J. (2015). HIV-1 infection accelerates age according to the epigenetic clock. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 212(10), 1563–1573. https://doi.org/10.1093/INFDIS/JIV277

Jankūnaitė, D. (2014). From Medicalization of Old Age to Biomedicalization of Old Age? Social Inquiry into Well-Being, 13(2), 154–166. https://doi.org/10.13165/SD-14–13–2–03

Kijak, R. J., & Szarota, Z. (2013). Starość. Między diagnozą a działaniem (1st ed.). Warszawa: Centrum Rozwoju Zasobów Ludzkich.

Krajowa Izba Fizjoterapeutów. (2022). Klasyfikacja ICD-11 została oficjalnie wdrożona. Retrieved 15 September 2022, from https://kif.info.pl/informacje/klasyfikacja-icd-11-zostala-oficjalnie-wdrozona/

Mulley, G. (2012). Stop the medicalisation of old age. BMJ, 344(feb01 2), e803–e803. https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJ.E803

Parnowski, T. (2013). Jak się starzejemy? Wymiar biologiczny procesu starzenia się. In Edukacja osób starszych (pp. 9–16). Warszawa: Stowarzyszenie Trenerów Organizacji Pozarządowych. Retrieved from www.facebook.com/stowarzyszeniestop

Rabheru, K., Byles, J. E., & Kalache, A. (2022). How “old age” was withdrawn as a diagnosis from ICD-11. The Lancet Healthy Longevity, 3(7), e457–e459. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666–7568(22)00102–7

Schmidt, W. C. (2011). Medicalization of Aging: The Upside and the Downside. Marquette Elder`s Advisor, 13(1), 55–88. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/eldershttp://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/elders/vol13/iss1/2

Schuler, E. (2021). ICD-11 and an argument about ‘old age’. Retrieved 19 June 2022, from https://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/blog/ICD-11-and-an-argumentabout-old-age

Tikkinen, K. A. O., Leinonen, J. S., Guyatt, G. H., Ebrahim, S., & Järvinen, T. L. N. (2012). What is a disease? Perspectives of the public, health professionals and legislators. BMJ Open, 2(6). https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJOPEN-2012–001632

Wood, J. B., & Estes, C. L. (1988). Medicalization of community services for the elderly. Health and Social Work, 13(1), 35–42. https://doi.org/10.1093/HSW/13.1.35

World Health Organization. (2022). ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics. Retrieved 15 September 2022, from https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/459275392

Zhavoronkov, A., & Bhullar, B. (2015). Classifying aging as a disease in the context of ICD11. Frontiers in Genetics, 6, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/FGENE.2015.00326

Zora, S., Cella, A., Poli, S., Veronese, N., Zini, E., Giannoni, P., … Pilotto, A. (2022). “Ageism” Is Associated With Self-Reported Multidimensional Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Subjects: A Population-Based Study. Frontiers in Medicine, 8, 3004. https://doi.org/10.3389/FMED.2021.734636/XML/NLM

Downloads

Published

2022-11-20

Issue

No. 23 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Wieczorkowksa, Magdalena. 2022. “Old Age Finally a Disease? Controversy Around the New International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Problems ICD-11”. Władza Sądzenia, no. 23 (November): 4-16. https://doi.org/10.18778/2300-1690.23.01.