Main author: Steinunn A. Ólafsdóttir
Institution or Company: Department of Physical Therapy at the Faculty of Medicine at University of Iceland
Co-Authors, Institution or Company:
Helga Jónsdóttir, Faculty of Nursing at the University of Iceland. Ingibjörg Hjaltadóttir, Faculty of Nursing at the University of Iceland. Rose Galvin, School of Allied Health at the University of Limerick. Sólveig Ása Árnadóttir, Department of Physical Therapy at the Faculty of Medicine at University of Iceland. Þóra Berglind Hafsteinsdóttir, Department of Nursing Science at Julius Center at the University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Health care for people with chronic illness at the University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Nursing, University of Iceland.
Introduction: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a biopsychosocial framework, published by the World Health Organization. ICF addresses individuals’ health and functioning in a holistic way. Functioning is based on an interplay between an individuals’ health condition and contextual factors (environmental and personal factors), and covers components related to body structure, body function, activities and participation. ICF Linking Rules can be used to link health-related outcomes to the ICF´s framework and its universal codes, and thus provide a common language for researchers and clinicians. The aim was to test the usefulness of ICF’s Linking Rules in exploring if a collection of health-related research variables can be used for a holistic description of stroke survivors´ functioning and health.
Methods: A cross-sectional population-based survey among community-dwelling stroke survivors. ICF Linking Rules were used for mapping of the survey´s variables to the most appropriate components of functioning and contextual factors.
Results: By using ICF Linking Rules, the variables created a holistic description of the stroke survivors, via the components of body function, activities, participation and contextual factors. Some variables were complicated to link and could potentially be linked in different ways or even addressed in more than one category. The identifications of the main concepts are a key to decide on how to the variable should be linked.
Conclusions: The linking-process was essential for mapping the variables to the ICF’s conceptual framework and thus create a holistic view of the stroke survivors´ health and functioning.
