Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115627

rune j. Simeonsson, phd, msph, School of Education & FPG Child Development Institute, university of north carolina, CB# 3500, Chapel hill, NC 27599-3500, 919-962-2512, rjsimeon@email.unc.edu, matilde Leonardi, md, Italian Neurological institute, Via Celoria 11, Milan, Italy, eva Bjorck-akesson, phd, Social sciences, Malardalen university, po box 883, Vasteras, Sweden, judith Hollenweger, phd, University of Zurich, Insitute of special education, Hirschengraben 48, zurich, Switzerland, Don Lollar, EdD, Office of Disability and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Building 101, F29, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, and andrea Martinuzzi, md, La Nostra Famiglia, Via Costa Alta 37, Conegliano, Italy.

This paper summarizes the development, field testing and final drafting of the ICF for children and youth (ICF-CY). A draft ICF-CY, prepared by a WHO work group, was posted on the WHO website for field trials during 2004-2005. Respondents completed a survey on ICF-CY modifications and questionnaires were completed by clinicians with 4 age groups to examine its direct applicability. Field trial findings supported the coding of child characteristics across domains (Body Function, Structure, Activities/ Participation and Environmental factors) and age-group data demonstrated that representative ICF-CY items were inclusive of developmental changes in children's functions, activities and environmental contexts. Reliability of coding was established through independent ratings of questionnaires. An analytic tool (Classification Workbench) was used to compare content of the draft ICF-CY and the main ICF. This comparison revealed that the ICFCY contained 144 classes and the ICF contained 1493 classes. A total of 144 classes were removed from the ICF and 125 classes were added to the ICF-CY. There were 1349 classes shared by both classifications and of these, 225 differed along some rubric dimension such as description, class name, and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Evaluation findings and comments from the field trial were incorporated into the final ICF-CY draft with submission to WHO by the end of 2005. The publication of the ICF-CY will provide a universal language for classification of childhood disability for surveillance, prevention and intervention activities. Implementation in health, education and social service sectors calls for development of complementary measurement tools and research on its application.

Learning Objectives: As the end of this presentation, participants will be able to

• Describe the purpose and major features of the ICF-CY
• Identify implications of the ICF-CY for child services

Keywords: Children and Adolescents, Disability

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation