ABSTRACT
Previous chapters have discussed the varying types of conditions that may be considered to be long term. These range greatly in type, presentation and prevalence. In Chapter 2 the WHO (2002b) definition of a chronic condition was provided to demonstrate that the term ‘LTC’ should no longer be confined to conditions of greatest prevalence or ones that lead to the highest mortality rates, but should include any condition, physical/structural or mental, that impacts on health, will worsen without health care intervention and/or behaviour
A definition of what a long-term condition (LTC) constitutes and what conditions are regarded as long term has been supplied in Chapter 1. This chapter is a practical guide to straightforward diagnostic criteria (where these exist) of some of the conditions that constitute an LTC (e.g. diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)). For conditions that have more complex diagnostic criteria such as cardiovascular disease, epilepsy or arthritis, a brief overview is provided with reference to appropriate texts. The aim is not to supply detailed manuals on every LTC but to discuss general principles relating to diagnosis.
