Objective: To demonstrate how the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) can be used to create coded functional status indicators specific for stroke from a simple stroke-specific functional index, the Stroke Impact Scale-16 (SIS-16).
Subjects: Nineteen professionals for the mapping portion and 8 persons with stroke for the cognitive debriefing portion.
Methods: Participants were asked to identify appropriate codes for the corresponding items of the SIS-16 following a structured protocol for mapping measures to the ICF. A Delphi technique was used in order to reach consensus for as many items as possible. In addition, cognitive debriefing was conducted with persons with stroke.
Results: A total of 13 items had Functional Status Indicators endorsed (8 items at the 4 digit level and 5 items at the 3 digit level). There were 3 items that did not reach consensus. The cognitive debriefing sessions demonstrated the differences in interpretation from the persons with stroke and the intentions by the developers.
Conclusion: This study has shown how the ICF can capture most items from functional status measures, such as the SIS-16. Furthermore, the items can be used to map onto a standard coding framework, illustrating the potential for increased use of Functional Status Indicators.