Refinements of the ICF Linking Rules to strengthen their potential for establishing comparability of health information

Abstract

The ICF Linking Rules are valuable for enhancing comparability of health information to ensure that information is available in a consistent manner to serve as a foundation for evidence-based decision-making across all levels of health systems. The refinements presented in this paper enhance transparency in, and ultimately reliability of the process of, linking health information to the ICF. Implications for Rehabilitation The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) constitutes a unified and consistent language of human functioning suitable as a reference for comparing health information. Comparability of information is essential to ensure that the widest range of information is available in a consistent manner for any decision-maker at all levels of the health system. The refined ICF Linking Rules presented in this article outline the method to establish comparability of health information based on the ICF.

Outcomes in adults with cerebral palsy: systematic review using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

“…21 Most of the items of common outcome measures could be translated into the universal language of the ICF. 21 Most of the items of common outcome measures could be translated into the universal language of the ICF.…”

“…Since some of the identified measures were previously linked in other projects, 21 existing linking results were obtained from the ICF Research Branch and independently checked by two reviewers (JB, SN). Concepts identified in clinical assessments were pre-linked by a third reviewer (CL), a physician in physical medicine and rehabilitation.…”

“…11 The first phase is designed to collect current evidence, which involves four preparatory studies: a systematic literature review, a qualitative study, a multicentre cross-sectional study in a clinical setting, and a global expert survey. 21 These categories will serve as candidate categories for the international consensus conference, during which the first version of the ICF Core Set for adults with CP will be finalized. The second phase comprises an international consensus conference with experts and health care professionals.…”

Capturing the Voices of Children in the Education Health and Care Plans: Are We There Yet?

“…Using the ICF-CY categories as pre-defined codes for deductive content analysis supports a deeper examination of the nature of the content included in section A of the plans. This second phase of analysis followed specific steps: (1) identification of units of meaning within the text relating to either abilities/strengths of the child and those referring to disabilities/functioning issues and also those referring to environmental issues; meaning units are hereby defined as the constellation of words or statements that relate to the same central meaning (Graneheim and Lundman, 2004); (2) all meaning units in all three categories (abilities, functioning issues, and environmental issues) were coded using the ICF-CY system and following coding procedures used in previous studies, namely the ICF linking rules (e.g., Cieza and Stucki, 2005;Castro et al, 2014;Cieza et al, 2016); the linking rules were developed for the specific purpose of linking content with the ICF, and include specific notations for each type of content that cannot be linked to the classification and guidelines on how to choose the ICF code to be linked to the meaning unit under analysis; (3) all meaning units were firstly coded by an experienced researcher with training on the ICF-CY system; (4) 5% of all meaningful units regarded as "abilities" and 5% of all meaning units regarded as "disabilities" were double-coded by a second independent researcher also trained on the ICF-CY to ensure reliability of criteria when coding. The choice of units to be double-coded was made through random selection of numbers on a computerized web-application; each number randomly selected would correspond to one EHC plan and the first 2 meaning units of that plan would be double-coded until 5% of the total was reached.…”

Avaliação do nível de conhecimento e aplicabilidade da Classificação Internacional de Funcionalidade, Incapacidade e Saúde

“…A concepção do projeto dos core sets, por exemplo, teve por finalidade elencar as categorias da CIF que servem como referências mínimas para a avaliação e a documentação da funcionalidade e da saúde das pessoas, e promover uma aplicação da CIF mais prática e abrangente (CIEZA ET AL., 2016;RIBERTO, 2011).…”