BackgroundThere is a connection between the definition of disability in a person-environment framework, the development of appropriate assessment strategies and instruments, and the logic underpinning the organization of benefits and services to confront disability.MethodsThe Italian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labor and Social Policies supported a three-year project for the definition of a common framework and a standardised protocol for disability evaluation based on ICF. The research agenda of the project identified 6 phases: 1) adoption of a definition of disability; 2) analytical breakdown of the contents of disability definition, so as to indicate as clearly as possible the core information essential to guide the evaluation process; 3) definition of a data collection protocol; 4) national implementation of the protocol and collection of approximately 1,000 profiles; 5) proposal of a profile analysis and definition of groups of cases with similar functioning profiles; 6) trial of the proposal with the collected data. The data was analyzed in different ways: descriptive analysis, application of the person-environment interactions classification tree, and cluster analysis.ResultsA sample of 1,051 persons from 8 Italian regions was collected that represented different functioning conditions in all the phases of the life cycle. The aggregate result of the person-environment interactions was summarized. The majority of activities resulted with no problems in all of the A&P chapters. Nearly 50.000 facilitators codes were opened. The main frequent facilitators were family members, health and social professionals, assistive devices and both health and social systems, services and politics. The focus of the person-environment interaction evaluation was on the A&P domains, differentiating those in which performance presented limitations and restrictions from those in which performance had no or light limitations and restrictions. Communication(d3) and Learning and Applying Knowledge(d1) appeared as the more problematic A&P areas. Self Care(d5) was the domain in which facilitators were more effective in supporting functioning, suggesting that the Italian welfare system is mainly focused on providing care services for activities of daily living, jointly with the family. The cluster analysis was limited to those categories that were common to all age classes (38 categories out of 55). For a final representation, a solution with 6 clusters was chosen.ConclusionsAn example is provided of how it is possible to plan empirical studies in which theoretical advances and operative goals on disability in a person-environment framework can support the definition of a research design, measurement strategies, and data analysis. The description of functioning and disability at population level is no more based on individual deficits or limitations. Personal profiles may be elaborated and groups created based on the characteristics of the person-environment interactions. Personal profiles may also be used as a “rationale” for d...

BackgroundThe International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a classification of health and health-related issues, aimed at describing and measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels. Here we discuss a preliminary qualitative and quantitative analysis of the relationships used in the Activities and Participation component of ICF, and a preliminary mapping to SUMO (Suggested Upper Merged Ontology) concepts. The aim of the analysis is to identify potential logical problems within this component of ICF, and to understand whether activities and participation might be defined more formally than in the current version of ICF.ResultsIn the relationship analysis, we used four predicates among those available in SUMO for processes (Patient, Instrument, Agent, and subProcess). While at the top level subsumption was used in most cases (90%), at the lower levels the percentage of other relationships rose to 41%. Chapters were heterogeneous in the relationships used and some of the leaves of the tree seemed to represent properties or parts of the parent concept rather than subclasses. Mapping of ICF to SUMO proved partially feasible, with the activity concepts being mapped mostly (but not totally) under the IntentionalProcess concept in SUMO. On the other hand, the participation concept has not been mapped to any upper level concept.ConclusionsOur analysis of the relationships within ICF revealed issues related to confusion between classes and their properties, incorrect classifications, and overemphasis on subsumption, confirming what already observed by other researchers. However, it also suggested some properties for Activities that could be included in a more formal model: number of agents involved, the instrument used to carry out the activity, the object of the activity, complexity of the task, and an enumeration of relevant subtasks.

During the last decade, under the World Health Organization's direction, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has become a reference tool for monitoring and developing various policies addressing people with disability. This article presents three steps to increase the semantic interoperability of ICF: first, the representation of ICF using ontology tools; second, the alignment to upper-level ontologies; and third, the use of these tools to implement semantic mappings between ICF and other tools, such as disability assessment instruments, health classifications, and at least partially formalized terminologies.

Background: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a classification of health and health-related issues, aimed at describing and measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels. Here we discuss a preliminary qualitative and quantitative analysis of the relationships used in the Activities and Participation component of ICF, and a preliminary mapping to SUMO (Suggested Upper Merged Ontology) concepts. The aim of the analysis is to identify potential logical problems within this component of ICF, and to understand whether activities and participation might be defined more formally than in the current version of ICF.