Application of the ICIDH in survey research on rehabilitation: the emergence of the functional diagnosis.

The International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH) has been hypothesized to be an excellent conceptual framework for the functional diagnosis, i.e. the evaluation of health problems by rehabilitation specialists. The ICIDH-based functional diagnosis was assessed in a series of survey studies on physical therapy, exercise therapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, and speech therapy. The results show that the functional diagnosis tends to be reliable; that treatment goals, derived from the diagnosis, offer a sensible characterization of care given by rehabilitation specialists; and that treatment goals validity predict the selection of interventions by rehabilitation specialists. It is concluded that the application of the ICIDH in research on the functional diagnosis is highly appropriate. In future studies the concept of the functional diagnosis and the diagnostic procedures should be further developed.