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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) eTables All Versions of this Article: ptj.20090327v1 90/7/1039    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Rauch, A. Articles by Cieza, A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rauch, A. Articles by Cieza, A. Related Collections Coordination, Communication, and Documentation Spinal Cord Injuries Professional Issues Clinical Decision Making Case Reports Diagnosis/Prognosis: Other Disability Models Examination/Evaluation: Other Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Using a Case Report of a Patient With Spinal Cord Injury to Illustrate the Application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health During Multidisciplinary Patient Management

A. Rauch, PT, BSc, is Project Leader, Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland, and Project Scientist, ICF Research Branch, WHO CC FIC Germany (DIMDI) at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland, and at Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Science (IHRS), Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
R. Escorpizo, PT, DPT, MSc, is Research Scientist, Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland, and at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; and ICF Research Branch, WHO CC FIC Germany (DIMDI) at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland, and at Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Science (IHRS), Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
D.L. Riddle, PT, PhD, FAPTA, is Otto D. Payton Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia Campus, Richmond, Virginia.
I. Eriks-Hoogland, MD, is Medical Officer, Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland.
G. Stucki, MD, MS, is Professor and Chair, Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland, and at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Director, Swiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zäch Strasse 4, CH-6207 Nottwil, Switzerland; and Director, ICF Research Branch, WHO FIC CC Germany (DIMDI) at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland, and at Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (IHRS), Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
A. Cieza, PhD, MPH, is Senior Scientist, Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (IHRS), Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany; Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; and ICF Research Branch, WHO FIC CC Germany (DIMDI) at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland, and at Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (IHRS), Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.

Address all correspondence to Dr Stucki at: gerold.stucki{at}paranet.ch.

Background and Purpose: Physical therapists require a comprehensive assessment of a patient's functioning status to address multiple problems in patients with severe conditions. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is the universally accepted conceptual model for the description of functioning. Documentation tools have been developed based on ICF Core Sets to be used in multidisciplinary rehabilitation management and specifically by physical therapists. The purposes of this case report are: (1) to apply ICF-based documentation tools to the care of a patient with spinal cord injury and (2) to illustrate the use of ICF-based documentation tools during multidisciplinary patient management.

Case Description: The patient was a 22-year-old man with tetraplegia (C2 level) who was 5 months postinjury. The report describes the integration of the ICF-based documentation tools into the patient's examination, evaluation, prognosis, diagnosis, and intervention while he participated in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program for 2 months.

Outcomes: The patient's comprehensive functioning status at the beginning of the program, the rehabilitation goals, the intervention plan, and his improvements in functioning following rehabilitation and the according goal achievement were illustrated with physical therapy–specific and multidisciplinary ICF-based documentation tools.

Discussion: This case report illustrates how the ICF-based documentation template for physical therapists summarizes all relevant information to aid the physical therapist's patient management and how ICF-based documentation tools for multidisciplinary care complement one another and thus can be used to enhance multidisciplinary patient management. In addition, the ICF assists in clarifying clinician roles as part of a multidisciplinary team. The case report demonstrates that the ICF can be a viable framework both for physical therapy and multidisciplinary management and for clinical documentation.

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This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. M. Jette Invited Commentary on the ICF and Physical Therapist Practice Physical Therapy, July 1, 2010; 90(7): 1064 - 1065. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Escorpizo, G. Stucki, A. Cieza, A. Rauch, and D. L. Riddle Author Response Physical Therapy, July 1, 2010; 90(7): 1066 - 1067. [Full Text] [PDF]