DEVELOPMENT OF CONSENSUS INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF FUNCTIONING, DISABILITY AND HEALTH (ICF) CORE SETS FOR LYMPHEDEMA

Abstract

To understand the challenges of patientswith lymphedema it is important to describefunctioning and to measure the effectivenessof treatment in changing functioning. TheInternational Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health (ICF) offers an internationalframework to classify functioning ofpersons in their personal environment. ICFCore Sets are lists of selected ICF categoriesconcerning those important aspects offunctioning that are most likely to be affectedby a specific health problem or disease. TheseCore Sets make it easier and faster to describeand communicate the patient’s problems andto define treatment goals. Furthermore, theyare available to health care providers of allprofessions, researchers, health insurancecompanies and policy-makers. The objectiveof this document is to present the outcomesof a consensus conference held to determinethe first versions of the ICF Core Sets forlymphedema. Frequency rankings were madeof the ICF categories derived from fourpreparatory studies, being: a) a systematic review; b) a qualitative study; c) an expertsurvey; and d) a cross-sectional study. Bymeans of working group discussions andplenary sessions, a final consensus on ICFcategories was achieved and Comprehensiveand Brief Core Sets for lymphedema for theupper limb, lower limb, and midline lymphedemawere defined. These ICF Core Setscontain different items in each region. Futurevalidation of these Core Sets for healthprofessions and for countries is needed.