2025 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code R54

Age-related physical debility

ICD-10-CM Code:
R54
ICD-10 Code for:
Age-related physical debility
Is Billable?
Yes - Valid for Submission
Chronic Condition Indicator: [1]
Not chronic
Code Navigator:

R54 is a billable diagnosis code used to specify a medical diagnosis of age-related physical debility. The code is valid during the current fiscal year for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions from October 01, 2024 through September 30, 2025.

The code R54 is applicable to adult patients aged 15 through 124 years inclusive. It is clinically and virtually impossible to use this code on a patient outside the stated age range.

According to ICD-10-CM guidelines this code should not to be used as a principal diagnosis code when a related definitive diagnosis has been established.

Code Classification

  • Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
    R00–R99
    • General symptoms and signs
      R50-R69
      • Age-related physical debility
        R54

Approximate Synonyms

The following list of clinical terms are approximate synonyms, alternative descriptions, or common phrases that might be used by patients, healthcare providers, or medical coders to describe the same condition. These synonyms and related diagnosis terms are often used when searching for an ICD-10 code, especially when the exact medical terminology is unclear. Whether you're looking for lay terms, similar diagnosis names, or common language alternatives, this list can help guide you to the correct ICD-10 classification.

  • Aging
  • Aging
  • Asthenia
  • Asthenia
  • Attacks of weakness
  • Cachexia
  • Distribution of body fat loss - finding
  • Exhausted on least exertion
  • Exhaustion
  • Exhaustion - physiological
  • Extreme old age
  • Fatigability
  • Fatigue
  • Finding of general energy
  • Frail elderly
  • Frailty
  • General health deterioration
  • General health deterioration
  • Generally unwell
  • Lack of energy
  • Lethargy
  • Malaise
  • Malaise
  • Malaise and fatigue
  • Old-age
  • Old-age
  • Problem of aging
  • Quickly exhausted
  • Senile asthenia
  • Senile exhaustion

Clinical Classification

Clinical Classifications group individual ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes into broader, clinically meaningful categories. These categories help simplify complex data by organizing related conditions under common clinical themes.

They are especially useful for data analysis, reporting, and clinical decision-making. Even when diagnosis codes differ, similar conditions can be grouped together based on their clinical relevance. Each category is assigned a unique CCSR code that represents a specific clinical concept, often tied to a body system or medical specialty.

Other general signs and symptoms

CCSR Code: SYM016

Inpatient Default: Y - Yes, default inpatient assignment for principal diagnosis or first-listed diagnosis.

Outpatient Default: Y - Yes, default outpatient assignment for principal diagnosis or first-listed diagnosis.

Clinical Information

  • Lethargy

    a general state of sluggishness, listless, or uninterested, with being tired, and having difficulty concentrating and doing simple tasks. it may be related to depression or drug addiction.
  • Alert Fatigue, Health Personnel

    mental fatigue experienced by health care providers who encounter numerous alerts and reminders from the use of clinical decision support systems. as the numbers of alerts and reminders designed to provide meaningful assistance to the patient care process increases, many health personnel may ignore them.
  • Asthenopia

    term generally used to describe complaints related to refractive error, ocular muscle imbalance, including pain or aching around the eyes, burning and itchiness of the eyelids, ocular fatigue, and headaches.
  • Auditory Fatigue

    loss of sensitivity to sounds as a result of auditory stimulation, manifesting as a temporary shift in auditory threshold. the temporary threshold shift, tts, is expressed in decibels.
  • Compassion Fatigue

    emotional distress caused by repeated or prolonged expression of compassion or empathy. it may occur in individuals working in care giving professions.
  • Emotional Exhaustion

    a state of feeling emotionally overextended and drained.
  • Fatigue

    the state of weariness following a period of exertion, mental or physical, characterized by a decreased capacity for work and reduced efficiency to respond to stimuli.
  • Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic

    a syndrome characterized by persistent or recurrent fatigue, diffuse musculoskeletal pain, sleep disturbances, and subjective cognitive impairment of 6 months duration or longer. symptoms are not caused by ongoing exertion; are not relieved by rest; and result in a substantial reduction of previous levels of occupational, educational, social, or personal activities. minor alterations of immune, neuroendocrine, and autonomic function may be associated with this syndrome. there is also considerable overlap between this condition and fibromyalgia. (from semin neurol 1998;18(2):237-42; ann intern med 1994 dec 15;121(12): 953-9)
  • Fractures, Stress

    fractures due to the strain caused by repetitive exercise. they are thought to arise from a combination of muscle fatigue and bone failure, and occur in situations where bone remodeling predominates over repair. the most common sites of stress fractures are the metatarsus; fibula; tibia; and femoral neck.
  • Heat Stress Disorders

    a group of conditions that develop due to overexposure or overexertion in excessive environmental heat.
  • Mental Fatigue

    a condition of low alertness or cognitive impairment, usually associated with prolonged mental activities or stress.
  • Muscle Fatigue

    a state arrived at through prolonged and strong contraction of a muscle. studies in athletes during prolonged submaximal exercise have shown that muscle fatigue increases in almost direct proportion to the rate of muscle glycogen depletion. muscle fatigue in short-term maximal exercise is associated with oxygen lack and an increased level of blood and muscle lactic acid, and an accompanying increase in hydrogen-ion concentration in the exercised muscle.
  • Voice Disorders

    pathological processes that affect voice production, usually involving vocal cords and the laryngeal mucosa. voice disorders can be caused by organic (anatomical), or functional (emotional or psychological) factors leading to dysphonia; aphonia; and defects in voice quality, loudness, and pitch.
  • Asthenia

    clinical sign or symptom manifested as debility, or lack or loss of strength and energy.
  • Neurocirculatory Asthenia

    a clinical syndrome characterized by palpitation, shortness of breath, labored breathing, subjective complaints of effort and discomfort, all following slight physical exertion. other symptoms may be dizziness, tremulousness, sweating, and insomnia. neurocirculatory asthenia is most typically seen as a form of anxiety disorder.
  • Frail Elderly

    older adults or aged individuals who are lacking in general strength and are unusually susceptible to disease or to other infirmity.
  • Frailty

    a state of increased vulnerability to stressors, following declines in function and reserves across multiple physiologic systems, characterized by muscle weakness; fatigue; slowed motor performance; low physical activity; and unintentional weight loss.
  • Cachexia

    general ill health, malnutrition, and weight loss, usually associated with chronic disease.
  • Fibromyalgia

    a common nonarticular rheumatic syndrome characterized by myalgia and multiple points of focal muscle tenderness to palpation (trigger points). muscle pain is typically aggravated by inactivity or exposure to cold. this condition is often associated with general symptoms, such as sleep disturbances, fatigue, stiffness, headaches, and occasionally depression. there is significant overlap between fibromyalgia and the chronic fatigue syndrome (fatigue syndrome, chronic). fibromyalgia may arise as a primary or secondary disease process. it is most frequent in females aged 20 to 50 years. (from adams et al., principles of neurology, 6th ed, p1494-95)
  • Fatigue, CTCAE 3.0|Fatigue (asthenia, lethargy, malaise)

    an unfavorable feeling of fatigue temporally associated with the use of a medical treatment or procedure.
  • Grade 1 Fatigue, CTCAE|CTCAE Grade 1 Fatigue (asthenia, lethargy, malaise)|Grade 1 Fatigue|Grade 1 Fatigue (asthenia, lethargy, malaise)

    fatigue relieved by rest
  • Grade 1 Malaise, CTCAE|Grade 1 Malaise

    uneasiness or lack of well being
  • Grade 2 Fatigue, CTCAE|CTCAE Grade 2 Fatigue (asthenia, lethargy, malaise)|Grade 2 Fatigue|Grade 2 Fatigue (asthenia, lethargy, malaise)

    fatigue not relieved by rest; limiting instrumental adl
  • Grade 2 Malaise, CTCAE|Grade 2 Malaise

    uneasiness or lack of well being limiting instrumental adl
  • Grade 3 Fatigue, CTCAE|CTCAE Grade 3 Fatigue (asthenia, lethargy, malaise)|Grade 3 Fatigue|Grade 3 Fatigue (asthenia, lethargy, malaise)

    fatigue not relieved by rest, limiting self care adl
  • Grade 3 Malaise, CTCAE|Grade 3 Malaise

    uneasiness or lack of well being limiting self-care adl
  • Malaise

    a feeling of general discomfort or uneasiness, an out-of-sorts feeling.
  • Malaise, CTCAE|Malaise|Malaise

    a disorder characterized by a feeling of general discomfort or uneasiness, an out-of-sorts feeling.
  • Post-Exertional Malaise|Post Exertional Malaise

    a feeling of malaise after physical or mental effort or stress.

Index to Diseases and Injuries References

The following annotation back-references for this diagnosis code are found in the injuries and diseases index. The Index to Diseases and Injuries is an alphabetical listing of medical terms, with each term mapped to one or more ICD-10-CM code(s).

Code Edits

The Medicare Code Editor (MCE) detects errors and inconsistencies in ICD-10-CM diagnosis coding that can affect Medicare claim validity. These Medicare code edits help medical coders and billing professionals determine when a diagnosis code is not appropriate as a principal diagnosis, does not meet coverage criteria. Use this list to verify whether a code is valid for Medicare billing and to avoid claim rejections or denials due to diagnosis coding issues.

Adult diagnoses

The Medicare Code Editor detects inconsistencies in adult cases by checking a patient's age and any diagnosis on the patient's record. The adult code edits apply to patients age range is 15–124 years inclusive (e.g., senile delirium, mature cataract).

Convert R54 to ICD-9-CM

Below are the ICD-9 codes that most closely match this ICD-10 code, based on the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs). This ICD-10 to ICD-9 crosswalk tool is helpful for coders who need to reference legacy diagnosis codes for audits, historical claims, or approximate code comparisons.

Senility w/o psychosis

ICD-9-CM: 797

Approximate Flag - The approximate mapping means this ICD-10 code does not have an exact ICD-9 equivalent. The matched code is the closest available option, but it may not fully capture the original diagnosis or clinical intent.

Code History

  • FY 2024 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2023 through 9/30/2024
  • FY 2023 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2022 through 9/30/2023
  • FY 2022 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2021 through 9/30/2022
  • FY 2021 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2020 through 9/30/2021
  • FY 2020 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2019 through 9/30/2020
  • FY 2019 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2018 through 9/30/2019
  • FY 2018 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2017 through 9/30/2018
  • FY 2017 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2016 through 9/30/2017
  • FY 2016 - New Code, effective from 10/1/2015 through 9/30/2016. This was the first year ICD-10-CM was implemented into the HIPAA code set.

Footnotes

[1] Not chronic - A diagnosis code that does not fit the criteria for chronic condition (duration, ongoing medical treatment, and limitations) is considered not chronic. Some codes designated as not chronic are acute conditions. Other diagnosis codes that indicate a possible chronic condition, but for which the duration of the illness is not specified in the code description (i.e., we do not know the condition has lasted 12 months or longer) also are considered not chronic.