ICD-11: a comprehensive picture of health, an update on the ICD-ICF joint use initiative

This is a follow-up of the special report Towards the joint use of ICD and ICF: A call for contribution, published by the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine in 2012, which introduced an initiative of using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in a complementary way in clinical practice. Recognizing the merits of using the ICD and ICF jointly, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced so-called functioning properties in the ICD-11. The first step in this ICD-ICF joint use initiative revealed 103 rehabilitation-relevant health conditions for which functioning properties were to be identified. Afterwards experts were recruited to identify the functioning properties for the health conditions for which no ICF Core Sets were available and all the functioning properties were integrated in the beta-version of ICD-11.

The objective of this special report is to present the outcome of the recruitment and training of the contributing experts, and to provide an update on the current status of identifying functioning properties and their integration in ICD-11.

Having functioning properties in the ICD-11 achieves a milestone in depicting health information in an integrated and comprehensive manner. Explicitly identifying functioning properties for specific health conditions further reinforces the importance of acquiring a broader and more meaningful picture of a person's health, and can guide clinical decision-making.