External causes of morbidity or mortality is a chapter in ICD-11 that classifies events and circumstances outside the body that lead to injury, illness, or death. These external causes describe how an injury or health condition occurred rather than the nature of the resulting medical condition, providing essential context for understanding the underlying cause of harm.
This chapter includes causes such as transport accidents, falls, exposure to environmental factors, intentional self-harm, assault, and complications related to medical or surgical care. Accurate classification supports injury prevention, public health surveillance, policy development, and research by identifying risk factors and patterns associated with avoidable morbidity and mortality.