Diagnostic classifications in child health.

This project was established to answer the following questions: Is the current, (in 1991), classification of paediatric diagnoses adequate for current and predicted future needs? If not, are there any available suitable alternatives? If not, what diagnostic classification will suit the requirements of specialists and generalists in the various fields of child health? How will any new paediatric classification fit in with other new classifications? These questions can only be answered when the following subsidiary questions have been addressed: Why are clinical classification systems necessary? Why is a specific one needed for child health? What systems were available at the start of the project? What problems were inherent in those systems?