New approaches to understanding the impact of musculoskeletal conditions

Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2004 Apr;18(2):141-54. doi: 10.1016/j.berh.2004.02.003.

Abstract

The approval of the new international classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF; formerly ICIDH) (WHO, 2001a) by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2001 is a landmark event for medicine and society. With the ICF, patients' functioning, with its components body functions and structures, activities and participation, became a central perspective in medicine. The objective of this paper is to outline how the ICF can serve as a new global language of functioning and health and hence become a new approach for our understanding of the impact of musculoskeletal conditions.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living / classification*
  • Disability Evaluation*
  • Humans
  • Rheumatic Diseases / physiopathology*
  • Sickness Impact Profile*