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Development
of ICF Core Sets for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
To
describe and rate the consequences of SCI, a wide range of
measures has been used. Disadvantages occur related to the
large variation in currently available measures, the variation
in underlying dimensions and terminological confusion. These
include the difficulty to carry data from one episode of care
- emergency, medical, rehabilitative, outpatient and community
clinical care - over to another episode of care involving
a different clinical focus.
The
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health (ICF) by the World Health Assembly offers a comprehensive
and universally accepted framework to describe functioning,
disability and health in persons with all kinds of diseases
or conditions. Realizing that ICF's significance and power
lies in its conceptualization of functioning and disability,
there is an urgent call for creating ICF-based instruments
that are more appropriate to clinical information needs.
The
objective of the project is to develop lists of ICF categories
specific for individuals with SCI, the so called ICF Core
Sets. The goal to specify what is relevant to study and report
for persons with SCI is very much in line with the broader
goal of the approach taken by the ISCoS and ASIA to define
a Core Data Set of variables that can be collected in persons
with SCI.
The
project consists of four world-wide studies and an ICF Core
Set Consensus Conference. ICF categories relevant for SCI
are identified by means of (I) an empirical study, (II) a
systematic review of outcome measures used in SCI research,
(III) an Expert Survey involving health professionals worldwide,
and (IV) focus groups and semi-structured interviews with
persons with SCI. Consensus about areas that have to be part
of a comprehensive and of a brief ICF Core Set for SCI will
be reached in a final ICF Core Set Consensus Conference at
the Swiss Paraplegic Research Nottwil in November 2007. Subsequent
field testing will be necessary to validate these first versions
of ICF Core Sets.
The
project is a cooperation between the ICF Research Branch of
the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaboration Centre of
the Family of International Classifications (DIMDI, Germany),
the CAT (Classification, Assessment and Terminology) team
and the DAR (Disability and Rehabilitation) team at WHO, the
International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) and International
Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) and
partner institutions across the world.
For
more information please contact: Monika
Scheuringer
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