Documentation of Juvenile Arthritis

Published July 2025

July has been designated as Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month by the Arthritis Foundation. The objectives include raising awareness, educating families about the early signs and symptoms of Juvenile Arthritis (JA), and providing support in managing the disease. JA, also known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), affects thousands of U.S. children under the age of 16. Childhood depression is often associated with JA. Symptoms vary in duration from months to years and include persistent joint pain, rash, uveitis (chronic eye inflammation), fatigue, and fever. JA can also affect the digestive tract, lungs, heart, and bone growth. Although there is no cure for JA, early diagnosis and aggressive treatment can help achieve remission.

Complete and definitive documentation is crucial for Juvenile Arthritis; as this enables proper diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of the debilitating disease. Juvenile Arthritis should never be documented as unspecified. The following points of specificity should be included, which also ensuresaccurate coding:

• Type of arthritis
• Site(s) with laterality
• Symptoms
• Associated underlying conditions
• Complications
• Diagnostic tests with findings
• Treatment and medications

Please refer to the 2025 ICD-10-CM coding manual for an all-inclusive list of codes for Juvenile Arthritis (M08.-).