Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health core set for physical health of older adults
João A Ruaro1, Marinêz B Ruaro, Ricardo O Guerra
11Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN, Brazil. 2Physical Therapy Department, UNICENTRO, Guarapuava, PR, Brazil. 3Physical Therapy Department, UFRN, Santa Cruz, RN, Brazil.
Background:
To facilitate a systematic, comprehensive description of functioning and to enable the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in clinical practice and research, core sets have been developed.
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to propose a version of the ICF core set to classify the physical health of older adults.
Methods:
The proposition of the ICF core set was based on the Delphi technique. The panel of experts included 8 Brazilian researchers (physical therapists, medical doctors, nurses, and physical educators). The communication was wholly electronic. In total, there were 5 rounds of interactivity between the participants to arrive at the final version of the construct.
Results:
The ICF core set presented 30 categories (14 on body functions, 4 on body structures, 9 on activities or participation, and 3 on environmental factors) and had a Cronbach α of 0.964.
Conclusions:
The presented core set is a secure, fast, and accurate instrument for assessing the physical health and engagement of older adults. It defines points related to functioning and health that are relevant when evaluating this population, as well as when reevaluating it and monitoring changes.
Related Concept Videos
Dimensions of Health and Illness
Concepts of Health and Illness
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results...
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
Intellectual Disability

