Towards the Joint Use of ICD and ICF: a Call for Contribution

Background: To optimize patient functioning, rehabilitation professionals often rely on measurements of functioning as well as on classifications. Although the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) are used, their joint use has yet to become an established practice. To encourage their joint use in daily practice, the World Health Organization (WHO) has invited all rehabilitation practitioners worldwide to support the ICD-11 revision process by identifying the ICF categories that correspond to specific rehabilitation-relevant health conditions. The first step in completing this task, generating the list of these health conditions, was taken at a February 2012 workshop in São Paulo, Brazil.

Objectives: The objectives of this paper are to present the results of the São Paulo workshop, and to invite practitioners to participate in the ICD-ICF joint use initiative.

Discussion: Alternating plenary and small working group sessions were held and 103 rehabilitation-relevant health conditions were identified. With this list available, WHO together with the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM), is reaching out to clinicians of all rehabilitation disciplines to take on the challenge of identifying the ICF categories for at least one of the health conditions listed.