Szilvia Geyh¹; Alarcos Cieza¹; Jan Schouten²; Hugh Dickson³; Peter Frommelt⁴; Zaliha Omar⁵; Nenad Kostanjsek⁶; Haim Ring²; Gerold Stucki²

Volume 36, Supplement 44, Supplement 44/August 2004, pp. 135-141(7)

1: ICF Research Branch, WHO FIC Collaborating Center (DIMDI), IMBK Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich Germany 2: Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center Raanana Israel 3: Liverpool Health Service Division of Medicine Liverpool Australia 4: Asklepios- Klinik Schaufling Schaufling Germany 5: University of Malaya Faculty of Medicine Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 6: Classification, Assessment, Surveys and Terminology Team World Health Organization Geneva Switzerland
DOI: 10.1080/16501960410016776

Objective: To report on the results of the consensus process integrating evidence from preliminary studies to develop the first version of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set and the Brief ICF Core Set for stroke.

Methods: A formal decision-making and consensus process integrating evidence gathered from preliminary studies was followed. Preliminary studies included a Delphi exercise, a systematic review, and an empirical data collection. After training in the ICF and based on these preliminary studies relevant ICF categories were identified in a formal consensus process by international experts from different backgrounds.

Results: The preliminary studies identified a set of 448 ICF categories at the second, third and fourth ICF levels with 193 categories on body functions , 26 on body structures , 165 on activities and participation , and 64 on environmental factors . Thirty-nine experts from 12 different countries attended the consensus conference on stroke. Altogether 130 second-level categories were included in the Comprehensive ICF Core Set with 41 categories from the component body functions , 5 from body structures , 51 from activities and participation , and 33 from environmental factors . The Brief ICF Core Set included a total of 18 second-level categories (6 on body functions , 2 on body structures , 7 on activities and participation , and 3 on environmental factors ).

Conclusion: A formal consensus process integrating evidence and expert opinion based on the ICF framework and classification led to the definition of ICF Core Sets for stroke. Both the Comprehensive ICF Core Set and the Brief ICF Core Set were defined.