Skip Navigation


Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on March 27, 2006
Rheumatology 2006 45(10):1247-1254; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kel097
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
45/10/1247    most recent
kel097v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Weigl, M.
Right arrow Articles by Stucki, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Weigl, M.
Right arrow Articles by Stucki, G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The ICF comprehensively covers the spectrum of health problems encountered by health professionals in patients with musculoskeletal conditions

M. Weigl1,2, A. Cieza2, N. Kostanjsek3, M. Kirschneck1,2 and G. Stucki1,2

1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and 2ICF Research Branch of the WHO FIC CC (DIMDI), Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (former Institute of Medical Balneology and Climatology), Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany and 3Classification, Assessment, Surveys and Terminology Team, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Correspondence to: Prof. Dr med. Gerold Stucki, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University Hospital Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany. E-mail: gerold.stucki{at}med.uni-muenchen.de


  Abstract

Objectives. The objective of this study was to investigate, whether the International Classification of Functioning, Disablity and Health (ICF) comprehensively covers the spectrum of health problems encountered by medical doctors and physiotherapists in patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

Methods. A worldwide e-mail survey with questionnaires that requested lists of relevant areas in the ICF components—body functions, body structures, activities and participation, and environmental factors—in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, low back pain and osteoporosis was conducted. The suitability of linking the named concepts to the ICF as well as the precision of the linking was characterized by assigning the concepts to six groups.

Results. All concepts that were named by the experts could be linked to the ICF, with the exception of personal factors. Between 32% (environmental factors) and 51% (activities and participation) of the named concepts were linked to an ICF category with an identical meaning and the same grade of precision. All other named concepts were linked to ICF categories with a lower level of precision, or encompassed more than one ICF category, or were linked to an ICF category with a related, but not identical meaning.

Conclusions. The ICF covers comprehensively the spectrum of problems encountered in patients with musculoskeletal conditions by clinical experts throughout the world. This strengthens the validity of the ICF in the view of the users and will encourage the use of ICF-based applications such as the ICF checklist and the now-developed ICF Core Sets.

KEY WORDS: Outcome assessment (health care), Activities of daily living, Rehabilitation, Musculoskeletal diseases, ICF.

Submitted 26 August 2005; revised version accepted 21 February 2006.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.