title: Semantic aspects of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: towards sharing knowledge and unifying information.
abstract: During the last decade, under the World Health Organization's direction, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has become a reference tool for monitoring and developing various policies addressing people with disability. This article presents three steps to increase the semantic interoperability of ICF: first, the representation of ICF using ontology tools; second, the alignment to upper-level ontologies; and third, the use of these tools to implement semantic mappings between ICF and other tools, such as disability assessment instruments, health classifications, and at least partially formalized terminologies.
authors.affiliation: Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, IRCCS Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Adrian Stefan
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Andronache
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simoncello
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Della Mea
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daffara
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Francescutti
mesh_terms: D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000592:standards*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012660:Semantics; D014944:World Health Organization