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As part of international efforts to develop and implement national models including the specification of ICF-based clinical data collection tools, the Italian rehabilitation community initiated a project to develop simple, intuitive descriptions of the ICF Rehabilitation Set, highlighting the core concept of each category in user-friendly language. This paper outlines the Italian experience in developing simple, intuitive descriptions of the ICF Rehabilitation Set as an ICF-based clinical data collection tool for Italy.Consensus process.Expert conference. Multidisciplinary group of rehabilitation professionals.The first of a two-stage consensus process involved developing an initial proposal for simple, intuitive descriptions of each ICF Rehabilitation Set category based on descriptions generated in a similar process in China. Stage two involved a consensus conference. Divided into three working groups, participants discussed and voted (vote A) whether the initially proposed descriptions of each ICF Rehabilitation Set category was simple and intuitive enough for use in daily practice. Afterwards the categories with descriptions considered ambiguous i.e. not simple and intuitive enough, were divided among the working groups, who were asked to propose a new description for the allocated categories. These proposals were then voted (vote B) on in a plenary session. The last step of the consensus conference required each working group to develop a new proposal for each and the same categories with descriptions still considered ambiguous. Participants then voted (final vote) for which of the three proposed descriptions they preferred.Nineteen clinicians from diverse rehabilitation disciplines from various regions of Italy participated in the consensus process. Three ICF categories already achieved consensus in vote A, while 20 ICF categories were accepted in vote B. The remaining 7 categories were decided in the final vote.The findings were discussed in light of current efforts toward developing strategies for ICF implementation, specifically for the application of an ICF-based clinical data collection tool, not only for Italy but also for the rest of Europe. Promising as minimal standards for monitoring the impact of interventions and for standardized reporting of functioning as a relevant outcome in rehabilitation.

Objective: To identify candidate categories for brief International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for the reporting and measurement of functioning in patients in the acute hospital. Design: Prospective multi-centre cohort study. Patients: Patients receiving rehabilitation interventions for musculoskeletal, neurological or cardiopulmonary injury or disease in acute hospitals. Methods: Functioning and contextual factors were coded using the ICF. The criterion for selecting candidate categories for the brief ICF Core Sets was based on their ability to discriminate between patients with high or low functioning status. Discrimination was assessed using multivariable regression models, the independent variables being all of the ICF categories of the respective comprehensive ICF Core Set. Analogue ratings of overall functioning as reported by patients and health professionals were used as dependent variables. Results: A total of 391 patients were included in the study (91 neurological, 109 cardiopulmonary, 191 musculoskeletal), mean age 63.4 years, 50.1% female. Selection yielded 33 categories for neurological, 31 for cardiopulmonary, and 30 for musculoskeletal. Conclusion: The present selection of categories can be considered an initial proposal, serving to identify the ICF categories most relevant for the practical assessment and monitoring of functioning in patients with acute neurological, cardiopulmonary, and musculoskeletal conditions.

Objective: To examine the relevance and completeness of the comprehensive International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for patients with rehabilitation needs in acute hospital care. Design: Multi-centre cohort study. Patients: A total of 391 patients (50.1% female, mean age 63.4 years) from 4 university hospitals in Austria, Germany and Switzerland and one Austrian general hospital. Methods: Data on functioning were collected using the respective comprehensive acute ICF Core Sets. Data were extracted from patients' medical record sheets and interviews with health professionals and patients. Results: Most of the categories of the comprehensive ICF Core Sets describing impairments, limitations or restrictions occurred in a considerable proportion of the study population. The most outstanding limitations and restrictions of the patients were problems with sleep and blood vessel functions, walking and moving and self-care. Thirty-eight aspects of functioning not previously covered by the comprehensive ICF Core Sets were ranked as relevant. Conclusion: Categories of the comprehensive ICF Core Sets for the acute hospital situation were confirmed. Some additional categories not covered by the Set in its present version emerged from the interviews, and should be considered for inclusion in a finalized version.

In this methodological note on applying the ICF in rehabilitation, we introduce suitable tools that allow us to document comprehensively and systematically the lived experience of health to guide clinical practice, the management of services, evidence-informed policy and scientific inquiry. The objective of this methodological note is to present the currently available tools with respect to four questions: 1) what ICF domains to document; 2) what perspective to take; 3) what data collection tools to apply; and 4) which approach to use for reporting. The application of these tools is illustrated using the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury (SwiSCI) Cohort Study. Existing ICF Sets provide a practical approach for identifying the domains to document. One can document from the perspective of biological health, lived health, and appraised health. For identifying suitable data collection tools, either existing tools can be linked to the ICF or available ICF-based data collection tools can be used. For reporting, an interval scale metric is suggested. The four step approach presented provides users with a logical sequence to follow when planning the documentation of functioning using the ICF as a health information reference system in practice and research.

Clinical assessment schedule (CLAS) is a core part of the ICF-based implementation of functioning reporting across health conditions and along the continuum of care. The Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Section and Board of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS PRM) workshop held in January 2016 aimed to develop and specify a CLAS within the context of rehabilitation services. UEMS PRM Workshop in Nottwil, Switzerland, January 2016.PRM physicians representatives from 12 European countries, as well as Israel and Japan, mostly delegates of UEMS PRM Section and Board, and experts with other rehabilitation professional backgrounds.Participants were divided into 6 working groups and asked to specify what functioning aspects would be essential to document using the available ICF sets for the identified rehabilitation services contained in the newly developed service classification (ICSO-R): acute, post-acute and long-term rehabilitation services. The 7 ICF Generic and 23 Rehabilitation Set categories were confirmed as well as specific health condition categories for acute rehabilitation services (mobile team), for postacute rehabilitation services (general outpatient rehabilitation, musculoskeletal and neurological rehabilitation, as well as specialized SCI rehabilitation), and for long-term rehabilitation services (day clinic and rehabilitation provided in the community). While general principles of the CLAS were defined, the need to align the CLAS for a specific service, as well as across services along the continuum of care was highlighted. All groups deliberated on this topic; however, no conclusive statement was presented yet.The groups recognized a need for a systematic effort to identify data collection tools currently used.CLASs will serve in the future to ensure that functioning information is systematically and consistently collected across services, and thus respond also to various global reports and initiatives which stress the need for improving data collection on people's functioning.