Mapping an obesity clinical evaluation protocol to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

Purpose. To evaluate a multidisciplinary clinical protocol for obesity treatment by mapping it against the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and to determine the areas, defined by the ICF, in which no standardized assessment tools are available. Method. Assessment instruments used by a multidisciplinary team were linked to ICF categories and compared with a list of ICF categories composed by the ICF checklist and the comprehensive ICF core-set for obesity. Other relevant ICF categories were added, and not relevant ones were deleted when appropriate. Results. Five ICF categories were deleted and 11 were added, and 166 ICF categories were linked to assessment tools and to semi-structured interviews. The majority were linked to assessment tools, but within the domain of the environmental factors all ICF categories were mapped using semi-structured interviews. Conclusions. Our results show that an extended list of ICF categories is adequate to cover a wide spectrum of clinical and functional information, and it could be employed to describe, disability profiles of obese patients, to develop preventive measures and to identify what factors in the environment need to be changed to improve rehabilitation's outcomes. © 2010 Informa UK Ltd.