YOUR CONDITION, EXPLAINED
Osteoporosis VA disability rating & claim guide
The VA rates Osteoporosis under diagnostic code 5013, in 38 CFR § 4.71a (musculoskeletal system). This guide lists two evaluation levels for it: 10% and 0%; the code's evaluation is set through another part of the schedule, so check the criteria against the regulation.
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A CLEARER PATH FORWARD
Make sense of your next step.
01Understand the rating02Know what to gather03Plan your preparationTHE ESSENTIALS
How the VA rates Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is loss of bone mineral density that leaves bone fragile enough to fracture from minor stress. The schedule titles DC 5013 "Osteoporosis, residuals of" — it rates what the disease has left behind, not the bone-density number, and it does that on limitation of motion of the affected parts.
DC 5013 has no percentage criteria of its own, and no percentage in it turns on a DEXA T-score. The whole of its rating rule is the note that closes its block: "Evaluate the diseases under diagnostic codes 5013 through 5024 as degenerative arthritis, based on limitation of motion of affected parts." That routes to DC 5003, which rates "on the basis of limitation of motion under the appropriate diagnostic codes for the specific joint or joints involved (DC 5200 etc.)" — so the percentage is whatever the affected part's own code provides and differs part by part. There is no single ladder. Only where that limitation of motion is noncompensable does a fixed 10 percent apply, per major joint or group of minor joints, combined rather than added. DC 5003's own X-ray-based 20 and 10 percent ratings are expressly unavailable here: "Note (2): The 20 pct and 10 pct ratings based on X-ray findings, above, will not be utilized in rating conditions listed under diagnostic codes 5013 to 5024, inclusive." This matters most for fragility fractures, because the fracture is usually rated where it happened rather than under DC 5013 — a vertebral compression fracture is evaluated under the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine (DC 5235, vertebral fracture or dislocation), a hip fracture under the hip and femur codes. 38 CFR 4.45(f) defines which joints count as major joints and which as groups of minor joints; 38 CFR 4.59 entitles an actually painful, unstable or malaligned joint to "at least the minimum compensable rating for the joint". Because the evaluation is assigned on the residual, a decision letter normally shows a hyphenated code such as 5013-5237 rather than a bare 5013 (38 CFR 4.27).
- Diagnostic code
- 5013
- Rating schedule
- 38 CFR § 4.71a
- Levels in this guide
- 10% and 0%
EXPLORE THE PERCENTAGES
Osteoporosis VA rating criteria (DC 5013)
Choose a percentage to see what that level means. Open the full comparison to read all the criteria in one place.
These are published rating criteria. Selecting a level does not predict your VA decision.
BUILD YOUR EVIDENCE, ONE PIECE AT A TIME
Evidence for your Osteoporosis claim
A long list feels easier when you have a place to start. Use this checklist to see what you have and what still needs gathering.
Check off what you’ve gathered. Progress stays on this page until you leave or refresh.
THE EXAM FORM
Which DBQ is used for Osteoporosis?
VA publishes its questionnaires by body system; find the one for this condition on VA's list.
Source: VA: Public Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs), read September 18, 2026.
THE EVERYDAY PICTURE
What the Osteoporosis examination has to record
The criteria above are read off an examination, and three sections of Part 4 govern what that examination has to contain. None of them is a diagnostic code, so none of them appears in the 5013 table, and all three apply to it. 38 CFR § 4.40: “Weakness is as important as limitation of motion, and a part which becomes painful on use must be regarded as seriously disabled.”
38 CFR § 4.45 lists what an examination of a joint is directed to consider:
- Less movement than normal (due to ankylosis, limitation or blocking, adhesions, tendon-tie-up, contracted scars, etc.).
- More movement than normal (from flail joint, resections, nonunion of fracture, relaxation of ligaments, etc.).
- Weakened movement (due to muscle injury, disease or injury of peripheral nerves, divided or lengthened tendons, etc.).
- Excess fatigability.
- Incoordination, impaired ability to execute skilled movements smoothly.
- Pain on movement, swelling, deformity or atrophy of disuse.
38 CFR § 4.59: “It is the intention to recognize actually painful, unstable, or malaligned joints, due to healed injury, as entitled to at least the minimum compensable rating for the joint.” So a joint that is painful on use is not a finding of nothing, even where the measured motion is close to normal.
The same section says how the joint is to be tested: “The joints involved should be tested for pain on both active and passive motion, in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing and, if possible, with the range of the opposite undamaged joint.” An examination that records one measurement, taken once, sitting down, has not done what the section asks, and that is worth reading the exam report for.
SMALL DETAILS. BETTER PREPARATION.
Preparing your Osteoporosis claim
Start with the practical tips, then explore the common oversights. You don’t need to work through everything at once.
Practical tips for your claim2 tips
- 01
Submit your DEXA scan results and fracture records together, since both the bone density measurement and the actual fracture history are what this rating depends on.
- 02
Link the cause to medication use or a service-related condition if applicable, since this code isn't limited to trauma-caused bone weakening the way the post-traumatic version is.
C&P exam pitfalls to keep in mind2 tips
- 01
Missing a bone density scan to confirm the underlying osteoporosis.
- 02
Not connecting fractures to the underlying low bone density.
Common filing mistakes2 tips
- 01
Failing to show the link between a fracture and the underlying bone disease.
- 02
Omitting treatment history or scan results that would establish the diagnosis.
When symptoms may first appear1 tips
- 01
This condition is often asymptomatic until a fracture actually occurs, and is more common with long-term steroid use or other conditions that weaken bone density.
SECONDARY TO SOMETHING ELSE
Conditions that can lead to Osteoporosis
Each links to a page on claiming Osteoporosis as secondary to that condition.
THE BROADER PICTURE
Osteoporosis by the numbers
- Approval outlook
- Moderate – improves with fracture documentation and scan results.
- Veterans service-connected
- ~1,600 veterans
Vetrify editorial estimates informed by VA published claims data (VBA Annual Benefits Report) and the VA rating schedule, not official VA statistics.
LET’S CLEAR A FEW THINGS UP
Common questions about Osteoporosis
Is Osteoporosis a VA-rated disability?
Yes. The VA rates Osteoporosis under VASRD diagnostic code 5013 (Musculoskeletal System). Osteoporosis is loss of bone mineral density that leaves bone fragile enough to fracture from minor stress. The schedule titles DC 5013 "Osteoporosis, residuals of" — it rates what the disease has left behind, not the bone-density number, and it does that on limitation of motion of the affected parts.
What VA disability rating can I get for Osteoporosis?
This guide lists these VA ratings for Osteoporosis: 10%, 0%; its evaluation is set through another part of the schedule, so check the criteria with the regulation. Examples: 10%: Where limitation of motion of an affected joint is objectively confirmed but noncompensable under that joint's own diagnostic code, "a rating of 10 pct is for application for each such major joint or group of minor joints affected by limitation of motion, to be combined, not added." Limitation of motion "must be objectively confirmed by findings such as swelling, muscle spasm, or satisfactory evidence of painful motion" (DC 5003); 0%: [38 CFR 4.31] Where no affected part shows compensable or objectively confirmed limitation of motion, a zero percent evaluation is assigned.
What evidence helps prove Osteoporosis for VA disability?
Strong evidence for a Osteoporosis claim includes: Range-of-motion measurements, in degrees, for every part osteoporosis has damaged — this is the only thing DC 5013 rates, and it is the measurement most osteoporosis claims are missing; Imaging and operative reports for each fragility fracture, identifying the exact vertebra or bone, since the fracture is usually rated under that body part's own diagnostic code rather than under DC 5013; A DEXA scan with the T-score and the treating clinician's diagnosis, which establish the disease even though no percentage turns on the number; Records of the in-service cause where one applies — long-term corticosteroid therapy, prolonged immobilization, hypogonadism, or an endocrine condition already service-connected.
What mistakes should veterans avoid when claiming Osteoporosis?
Common pitfalls when filing for Osteoporosis: Failing to show the link between a fracture and the underlying bone disease; Omitting treatment history or scan results that would establish the diagnosis.
What conditions can be secondary to Osteoporosis?
Conditions that can be service-connected as secondary to Osteoporosis, when a medical opinion links them, include: Compression Fractures. A secondary condition gets its own rating, which VA combines with the veteran's other ratings under 38 CFR 4.25.
Official sources
- 38 CFR § 4.71a, Schedule of ratings, musculoskeletal system (Diagnostic Code 5013)
- 38 CFR § 4.40, functional loss
- 38 CFR § 4.45, the joints
- 38 CFR § 4.59, painful motion
Criteria in quotation marks are the regulation’s own words; everything else on this page is Vetrify’s summary of it. The eCFR text is authoritative. See how Vetrify derives its numbers.
How these figures are checked: our methodology and the open dataset.
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