title: Broadening the scope on health problems among the chronically neurologically ill with the International Classification of Functioning (ICF).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine ICF items indicating health problems for patients with a chronic neurological disorder such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and neuromuscular disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  A Delphi study using three disease-specific panels composed of patients and proxies, medical and non-medical health professionals (N = 98). Panels were asked to select items from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) reflecting relevant disease-specific health problems. Items appraised as relevant by the panel members were compared with items in established measures namely: the Minimal Record of Disability (MRD) and the Disability and Impact Profile (DIP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-eight ICF items were considered to be the most relevant, and belonged to four ICF domains. No significant differences were found between the appraisal of items by patients/proxies and health professionals. Agreement across the disease panels appeared to be (very) strong. Differences between the three disease-specific panels were found for the 'Body Functions and Structures' domain: consensus was reached by extension of the inclusion criteria. The ICF-item selection covers almost all items of the established measures. The largest contrast was shown in the item selection for the 'participation' and 'environmental factors' domains.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Selected items indicate a broader scope in studying health problems compared with widely used health status measures in neurology, especially for the ICF domains 'Participation' and 'Environmental Factors'.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. k.wynia@med.umcg.nl
authors.forename: Klaske
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wynia
authors.forename: Berrie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Middel
authors.forename: Jitse P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Van Dijk
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: De Ruiter
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lok
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ha De Keyser
authors.forename: Sijmen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Reijneveld
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D003697:Delphi Technique; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled