ICF Core Sets for early post-acute rehabilitation facilities.

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Disability Studies

Background:

• Effective measurement of patient functioning is crucial in early post-acute rehabilitation.
• Standardized tools are needed to report and monitor functional status across different conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify candidate categories for International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets.
• To establish ICF Core Sets for reporting and measuring functioning in early post-acute rehabilitation settings.

Main Methods:

• Prospective multi-centre cohort study involving patients with neurological, cardiopulmonary, or musculoskeletal conditions.
• Functioning coded using the ICF, with category selection based on discrimination between high and low functioning levels.
• Multivariable regression models used to assess discrimination, with patient and health professional ratings as dependent variables.

Main Results:

• 165 patients (67 neurological, 37 cardiopulmonary, 61 musculoskeletal) were included.
• The selection process yielded 38 categories for neurological, 32 for cardiopulmonary, and 31 for musculoskeletal conditions.

Conclusions:

• The proposed ICF Core Sets provide an initial framework for assessing and monitoring functioning in post-acute rehabilitation.
• These categories are relevant for patients with neurological, cardiopulmonary, and musculoskeletal conditions.