Identification of candidate categories of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) for a Generic ICF Core Set based on regression modelling

Background: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is the framework developed by WHO to describe functioning and disability at both the individual and population levels. While condition-specific ICF Core Sets are useful, a Generic ICF Core Set is needed to describe and compare problems in functioning across health conditions. Methods: The aims of the multi-centre, cross-sectional study presented here were: a) to propose a method to select ICF categories when a large amount of ICF-based data have to be handled, and b) to identify candidate ICF categories for a Generic ICF Core Set by examining their explanatory power in relation to item one of the SF-36. The data were collected from 1039 patients using the ICF checklist, the SF-36 and a Comorbidity Questionnaire. ICF categories to be entered in an initial regression model were selected following systematic steps in accordance with the ICF structure. Based on an initial regression model, additional models were designed by systematically substituting the ICF categories included in it with ICF categories with which they were highly correlated. Results: Fourteen different regression models were performed. The variance the performed models account for ranged from 22.27% to 24.0%. The ICF category that explained the highest amount of variance in all the models was sensation of pain. In total, thirteen candidate ICF categories for a Generic ICF Core Set were proposed. Conclusion: The selection strategy based on the ICF structure and the examination of the best possible alternative models does not provide a final answer about which ICF categories must be considered, but leads to a selection of suitable candidates which needs further consideration and comparison with the results of other selection strategies in developing a Generic ICF Core Set

Developing Core Sets for Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health

The authors outline the process for developing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Core Sets for traumatic brain injury (TBI). ICF Core Sets are selections of categories of the ICF that identify relevant categories of patients affected by specific diseases. Comprehensive and brief ICF Core Sets for TBI should become useful for clinical practice and for research. The final definition of the ICF Core Sets for TBI will be determined at an ICF Core Sets Consensus Conference, which will integrate evidence from preliminary studies. The development of ICF Core Sets is an inclusive and open process and rehabilitation professionals are invited to participate

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Contemporary Literature Overview

This article reviews the literature from the 3 years since the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health\u27s (ICF\u27s) endorsement, focusing on those articles that discuss (a) what the ICF means and how it can be used; (b) the general utility of the ICF for specific fields, such as nursing, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and audiology; (c) examples of applications for classification in particular disorders, such as chronic health conditions, neuromusculoskeletal conditions, cognitive disorders, mental disorders, sensory disorders, and primary and secondary conditions in children; (d) uses of the ICF to recode prior work across multiple surveys and across country coding schemes on disability-related national survey items; and (e) governmental uses of the ICF in the United States and selected countries abroad. Future directions needed to effectively implement the ICF across rehabilitation policy, research, and practice are discussed. Our review suggests that the actual application of the ICF is as yet somewhat limited because the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsement is so recent; the earliest references using the ICF correspond with the WHO\u27s 2001 endorsement. Standardized application of the ICF in North America has yet to be realized in anticipation of the release of the clinical implementation manual (see Reed et al., 2005); thus, it is not surprising to find limited research on clinical implementation of the ICF. From our review of the literature and of unpublished reports, it seems clear that the ICF is being used in a preliminary fashion to inform conceptual frameworks in research and for recoding data from other health classifications. Recently completed and ongoing research has undoubtedly not yet been published

Responsiveness of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Set for rheumatoid arthritis

Background: The comprehensive International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Set for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a selection of 96 categories from the ICF, representing relevant aspects in the functioning of patients with RA. Objectives: To study the responsiveness of the ICF Core Set for RA in rheumatological practice. Methods: A total of 46 patients with RA (72% women, mean (SD) age 53.6 (12.6) years, disease duration 6.3 (8.0) years) were interviewed at baseline and again after 6 months treatment with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), applying the ICF Core Set for RA with qualifiers for problems on a modified three-point scale (no problem, mild/moderate, severe/complete). Patient-reported outcomes included Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (MHAQ) and Short-Form 36 (SF-36) health survey, and disease activity was calculated. Responsiveness was measured as change in qualifiers in ICF categories, and was also compared with change in patient-reported outcomes. Results: After 6 months of DMARD treatment, improvement by at least one qualifier was seen in 20% of patients (averaged across all ICF categories), 71% experienced no change and 9% experienced worsening symptoms. Findings were similar across the different aspects of functioning. Mainly moderate effect sizes were seen for 6-month changes in the ICF Core Set for RA, especially in patients with improved health status, with similar effect size for disease activity. The components in the ICF Core Set for RA were only weakly associated with patient-reported outcomes and disease activity. Conclusions: The ICF Core Set for RA demonstrated moderate responsiveness in this real-life setting of patients where minor changes occurred during treatment with DMARDs

Developing core sets for persons following amputation based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a way to specify functioning

Amputation is a common late stage sequel of peripheral vascular disease and diabetes or a sequel of accidental trauma, civil unrest and landmines. The functional impairments affect many facets of life including but not limited to: Mobility; activities of daily living; body image and sexuality. Classification, measurement and comparison of the consequences of amputations has been impeded by the limited availability of internationally, multiculturally standardized instruments in the amputee setting. The introduction of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) by the World Health Assembly in May 2001 provides a globally accepted framework and classification system to describe, assess and compare function and disability. In order to facilitate the use of the ICF in everyday clinical practice and research, ICF core sets have been developed that focus on specific aspects of function typically associated with a particular disability. The objective of this paper is to outline the development process for the ICF core sets for persons following amputation. The ICF core sets are designed to translate the benefits of the ICF into clinical routine. The ICF core sets will be defined at a Consensus conference which will integrate evidence from preparatory studies, namely: (a) a systematic literature review regarding the outcome measures of clinical trails and observational studies, (b) semi-structured patient interviews, (c) international experts participating in an internet-based survey, and (d) cross-sectional, multi-center studies for clinical applicability. To validate the ICF core sets field-testing will follow. Invitation for participation: The development of ICF Core Sets is an inclusive and open process. Anyone who wishes to actively participate in this process is invited to do so

Two steps forward, one step back? A commentary on the disease-specific core sets of the international classification of functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is advocated as a biopsychosocial framework and classification and has been received favourably by occupational therapists, disability rights organisations and proponents of the social model of disability. The success of the ICF largely depends on its uptake in practice and it is considered unwieldy in its full format. Therefore, to make the ICF user friendly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) have condensed the original format and developed core sets, some of which are disease specific. The authors use the ICF Core Set for stroke as an example to debate if by reverting to classification according to disease, the ICF is at risk of taking two steps forward, one step back in its holistic portrayal of health

In-country Research and Data Collection on Forced Labor and Child Labor in the Production of Goods: Nepal

ILAB_In_country_research_and_data_collection_on_FL_and_CL_India.pdf: 27 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Sea state monitoring using coastal GNSS-R

We report on a coastal experiment to study GPS L1 reflections. The campaign was carried out at the Barcelona Port breaker and dedicated to the development of sea-state retrieval algorithms. An experimental system built for this purpose collected and processed GPS data to automatically generate a times series of the interferometric complex field (ICF). The ICF was analyzed off line and compared to a simple developed model that relates ICF coherence time to the ratio of significant wave height (SWH) and mean wave period (MWP). The analysis using this model showed good consistency between the ICF coherence time and nearby oceanographic buoy data. Based on this result, preliminary conclusions are drawn on the potential of coastal GNSS-R for sea state monitoring using semi-empirical modeling to relate GNSS-R ICF coherence time to SWH.Comment: All Starlab authors have contributed significantly; the Starlab author list has been ordered randomly. Submitted to GR

The Evolution of Helium and Hydrogen Ionization Corrections as HII Regions Age

Helium and hydrogen recombination lines observed in low-metallicity, extragalactic, HII regions provide the data used to infer the primordial helium mass fraction, Y_P. In deriving abundances from observations, the correction for unseen neutral helium or hydrogen is usually assumed to be absent; i.e., the ionization correction factor is taken to be unity (icf = 1). In a previous paper (VGS), we revisited the question of the icf, confirming a "reverse" ionization correction: icf < 1. In VGS the icf was calculated using more nearly realistic models of inhomogeneous HII regions, suggesting that the published values of Y_P needed to be reduced by an amount of order 0.003. As star clusters age, their stellar spectra evolve and so, too, will their icfs. Here the evolution of the icf is studied, along with that of two, alternate, measures of the "hardness" of the radiation spectrum. The differences between the icf for radiation-bounded and matter-bounded models are also explored, along with the effect on the icf of the He/H ratio (since He and H compete for some of the same ionizing photons). Particular attention is paid to the amount of doubly-ionized helium predicted, leading us to suggest that observations of, or bounds to, He++ may help to discriminate among models of HII regions ionized by starbursts of different ages and spectra. We apply our analysis to the Izotov & Thuan (IT) data set utilizing the radiation softness parameter, the [OIII]/[OI] ratio, and the presence or absence of He++ to find 0.95 < icf < 0.99. This suggests that the IT estimate of the primordial helium abundance should be reduced by Delta-Y = 0.006 +- 0.002, from 0.244 +- 0.002 to 0.238 +- 0.003.Comment: 27 double-spaced pages, 11 figures, 5 equations; revised to match the version accepted for publication in the Ap

Using the ICF and psychological models of behavior to predict mobility limitations

Aims to test the ability of a model that integrates the theory of planned behavior (TPB) into the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) to predict walking limitations in adults awaiting hip or knee replacement surgery. Study Design and Participants: Cross-sectional structural equation modeling study of activity limitations in 190 adults. Method: A postal questionnaire measuring the TPB, ICF and walking limitations. Results: The integrated model accounted for more variance in activity limitations (57%) than either the TPB or ICF alone. Control beliefs (TPB) significantly mediated the relationship between impairment (ICF) and activity limitations. Conclusions: The integrated model provides an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that identifies intervention targets to effect reductions in disability without the need for concomitant reductions in impairment