61 research outputs found
Illustrating child-specific linking issues using the Child Health Questionnaire
No full textThe publication of the International Classification of Disability, Functioning and Health Children and Youth (ICF-CY) version as a derived classification of the ICF has enabled child health and disability researchers to implement the classification into their work. There is little discussion available in the literature specifically about challenges associated with connecting ICF-CY to child health instruments. The objective of this study was to apply new reflections about linking and previous linking rules to a child-specific instrument using the Child Health Questionnaire as an example. We discovered the importance of knowledge in child health assessment as a linking requisite, issues with linking information about child behavior, the importance of clarifying the vantage point from which one is linking (e.g., child, parent, or family), and the fact that one should carefully consider the true purpose or targets of items before linking them to the ICF-CY, irrespective of the simple language used in the item. Finally, we propose the use of a new not-defined abbreviation to denote items that assess overall child development: not-defined-development (nd-dv)
Linking health and health-related information to the ICF: a systematic review of the literature from 2001 to 2008
No full textIntroduction. In 1976, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated worldwide disability prevalence at 10%; recent evidence suggests the prevalence is even higher. Given the extent of disability around the world, it is essential for researchers and policy makers to have a uniform language for describing and discussing disability. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is WHO's attempt to provide that standard language. Linking rules were published in 2002 and 2005 suggesting a method for standardising the process of connecting outcome measures to the ICF classification. The objective of this study is to study the extent to which the linking rules have been used by researchers to link health and health-related information to the ICF and collect the feedback about the current practices, applications and areas to improve the linking method.Method. Using a systematic review of health-based literature between 2001 and February 2008, we (1) determined research areas where the linking method is applied, (2) examined the characteristics of studies that linked information to the ICF and (3) described current practices and issues related to the process of linking health and health-related information to the ICF both quantitatively and qualitatively.Results. The systematic review yielded 109 articles from 58 journals that linked health information to the ICF and 58 of the articles employed published linking rules. The majority of articles were descriptive in nature, used linking for connecting content of health instruments to the ICF and linked English health content. Quality controls such as reliability checks, multiple raters and iterative linking processes were found frequently among users of the linking rules. Qualitative analysis created themes about: preparing units of information, who links to the ICF, reliability, matching or translating concepts from text to ICF categories, information unable or difficult to capture, quantitative reporting standards and overall linking process.Discussion. This review also shows that the linking process is a useful way to apply the ICF classification in research. With over 100 articles published in 58 peer-reviewed journals across 50 focus areas, linking health and health-related information to the ICF has been shown to be a useful tool for describing, comparing and contrasting information from outcome measures used to collect quantitative data, qualitative research results and clinical patient reports across diagnoses, settings, languages and countries
Refinements of the ICF Linking Rules to strengthen their potential for establishing comparability of health information
No full textPurpose: The content of and methods for collecting health information often vary across settings and challenge the comparability of health information across time, individuals or populations. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) contains an exhaustive set of categories of information which constitutes a unified and consistent language of human functioning suitable as a reference for comparing health information. Methods and results: In two earlier papers, we have proposed rules for linking existing health information to the ICF. Further refinements to these existing ICF Linking Rules are presented in this paper to enhance the transparency of the linking process. The refinements involve preparing information for linking, perspectives from which information is collected and the categorization of response options. Issues regarding the linking of information not covered or unspecified within the ICF are also revisited in this paper.Conclusion: The ICF Linking Rules are valuable for enhancing comparability of health information to ensure that information is available in a consistent manner to serve as a foundation for evidence-based decision-making across all levels of health systems. The refinements presented in this paper enhance transparency in, and ultimately reliability of the process of, linking health information to the ICF. Implications for Rehabilitation:The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) constitutes a unified and consistent language of human functioning suitable as a reference for comparing health information. Comparability of information is essential to ensure that the widest range of information is available in a consistent manner for any decision-maker at all levels of the health system. The refined ICF Linking Rules presented in this article outline the method to establish comparability of health information based on the ICF.<br/
Content comparison of health-related quality of life measures for cerebral palsy based on the International Classification of Functioning
No full textPurpose. Content comparison of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures is currently important because of the varying use of concepts and operationalisations. Our objective was to use the International Classification of Functioning Children and Youth version (ICF-CY) as a standard by which to compare the content of all cerebral palsy (CP) disease-specific HRQOL measures.Methods. MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were searched up to September 2008. The content of HRQOL measures was linked to the ICF-CY by two trained assessors. Agreement was calculated using kappa (?) statistic.Results. Four disease-specific HRQOL measures were identified. Three generic measures were selected as a content comparison group. A total of 576 concepts contained in the measures were identified. Eighty-nine percent (n??=??510) were linked to 127 different ICF-CY categories. Overall ? agreement was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.75–0.77). Forty percent of concepts were linked to the activity and participation component. The measures varied in the number of concepts and the distribution of concepts by ICF-CY components.Conclusions. The ICF-CY provided an international accepted, structured framework for the content comparison of CP-specific and generic HRQOL measures. The results will provide clinicians and researchers with additional information, useful when selecting HRQOL measures
Health status and QOL instruments used in childhood cancer research: deciphering conceptual content using World Health Organization definitions
No full textPurpose. The impact of cancer on children can be assessed through various concepts including mental and physical health status and most significantly quality of life (QOL). It has been difficult to compare data collected through these instruments due to a lack of continuity or understanding of overlaps and gaps between them. To delineate the content of the most commonly used instruments in childhood cancer on an item-by-item basis, this study used standardized methods to link health information to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) as well as World Health Organization (WHO) standard definitions of health and quality of life. Method. MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cancerlit, and Sociological Abstracts were searched from the inception of each database to June 15th, 2009 for health status and quality of life instruments. The six most common cancer-specific and generic instruments employed in primary research in childhood cancer were analyzed on an item-by-item basis by two content assessors specializing in ICF linking and WHO definitions of health and QOL, using a standardized iterative technique developed at the ICF Research Branch. Results. We report the extent to which health status and QOL are represented in each instrument. Most measures emphasize a majority health status perspective according to WHO definitions of health. The generic instruments stress activities and participation domains over body functions or environment factors according to the ICF while cancer-specific instruments vary in their emphasis. Initial phase of coding agreement between assessors was in the substantial range (0.6–0.8 using Cohen’s kappa). Conclusion. A comprehensive and systematic content analysis of the most commonly employed health status and QOL instruments was conducted for this review. Two criteria were described as follows: the perspectives of the instruments (i.e., health vs. QOL) and the health content (according to ICF components). No single instrument demonstrated an ideal balance of content characteristics according to these criteria, and thus, each must be considered carefully relative to one’s particular research or clinical evaluative purpose
Supplemental Material - Using the capability, opportunity, and motivation model of behaviour to assess provider perception of implementing solution-focused goal-setting in paediatric rehabilitation
No full textSupplemental Material for Using the capability, opportunity, and motivation model of behaviour to assess provider perception of implementing solution-focused goal-setting in paediatric rehabilitation by L Crawford, H Colquhoun, S Kingsnorth, D Fehlings, and Nora Fayed in Journal of Child Health Care</p
Generic patient-reported outcomes in child health research: a review of conceptual content using World Health Organization definitions
No full textAim: our aims were to (1) describe the conceptual basis of popular generic instruments according to World Health Organization (WHO) definitions of functioning, disability, and health (FDH), and quality of life (QOL) with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as a subcomponent of QOL; (2) map the instruments to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF); and (3) provide information on how the analyzed instruments were used in the literature. This should enable users to make valid choices about which instruments have the desired content for a specific context or purpose.Method: child health-based literature over a 5-year period was reviewed to find research employing health status and QOL/HRQOL instruments. WHO definitions of FDH and QOL were applied to each item of the 15 most used instruments to differentiate measures of FDH and QOL/HRQOL. The ICF was used to describe the health and health-related content (if any) in those instruments. Additional aspects of instrument use were extracted from these articles.Results: many instruments that were used to measure QOL/HRQOL did not reflect WHO definitions of QOL. The ICF domains within instruments were highly variable with respect to whether body functions, activities and participation, or environment were emphasized.Interpretation: there is inconsistency among researchers about how to measure HRQOL and QOL. Moreover, when an ICF content analysis is applied, there is variability among instruments in the health components included and emphasized. Reviewing content is important for matching instruments to their intended purpos
CONTENT ISSUES IN CHILD HEALTH STATUS AND QUALITY OF LIFE INSTRUMENTS: ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES WITH NEW METHODS
No full textBackground: Health status and quality of life (QOL) instruments developed for children were created with many different conceptual perspectives. These perspectives were based on contextual understandings of the terms health and QOL at different points in time. As a result, there is a wide variety in the perspectives, health and life domains that are measured with these instruments. Purpose: This thesis is dedicated to resolving conceptual inconsistencies that arise from various instruments using content analysis techniques. Method: A method for analyzing the content of self-report instruments has been created and validated for adult measures. This method uses the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as the conceptual framework and the standard terminology to code each item from each instrument. Content analysis using this method will be reviewed, revised and validated for child health status and QOL instruments. Results: The content analysis method was revised to resolve issues regarding the perspective of instruments (e.g. health status versus QOL). Once applied to child self-report instruments, many inconsistencies between measures and their application were discovered. Discussion: The field of child health and QOL measurement applies and interprets the use of health status and QOL instruments inconsistently and this impacts upon content validity. Additionally, the repercussions of conceptual inconsistencies have an important effect on consequential validity in child health.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD
The smart safety Shoe: A new type of safety shoe that helps prevent lower back problems and opens the door to a new era of preventive safety footwear
No full textThe smart safety shoe is a concept safety shoe that has been in development as a collaboration between Allshoes safety footwear and TU Delft since 2020. Previous work on the shoe consisted of 2 graduation projects and a student course which resulted in the current concept of an injury preventing safety shoe focused on preventing lower back pain in the logistics sector. The shoe works by using pressure sensors and machine learning to detect unhealthy postures while its wearer has to lift various objects as part of their job (manual handling). This project focused on further developing the concept of the smart safety shoe and evaluating the prototypes from the last two projects. Previous projects provided two different pressure sensor layouts which are evaluated using a high-end pressure sensing insole. A manual handling experiment was set up and performed on 16 different participants from a lab and a warehouse. During testing participants were instructed to perform manual handling while holding 5 different postures. It was possible to train a machine learning model using the various pressure profiles gathered from the experiment. Using this model, the two sensor layouts from the previous projects were evaluated for their ability to detect the 5 predetermined postures. It was found that the latest layout outperformed the previous one and was therefore selected for further development of the smart safety shoe.The integration of various other sensors and actuators was evaluated, and the core functions of the shoe were defined with an indication towards future improvements of the smart safety shoe.The shoe has now been publicly presented by Allshoes and the goal is to have the product on the market by the end of 2025. In order for this to happen further prototyping is needed to create an improved machine learning model based on the selected sensor layout. The shoe shows promising responses from current safety shoe clients. When finally launched it will be part of a new type of protective equipment focused on prevention.Design for Interactio
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