International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, known more commonly as ICF, is a classification of health and health-related domains. As the functioning and disability of an individual occurs in a context, ICF also includes a list of environmental factors.

ICF is the WHO framework for measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels. ICF was officially endorsed by all 191 WHO Member States in the Fifty-fourth World Health Assembly on 22 May 2001(resolution WHA 54.21) as the international standard to describe and measure health and disability.

• more. . .

ONLINE RESOURCES

• Browse ICF Online
  
  
• Access the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0)
  
  A practical instrument designed to measure general levels of health and disability based on ICF.
  
  
  

MORE INFORMATION

• ICF Checklist
  pdf, 200kb
  
  A practical tool to elicit and record information on the functioning and disability of an individual. The ICF Checklist allows simple, time efficient identification and qualifification of the functioning profile of an individual in a simple, time efficient manner.
  
  
  
• Browse the ICF Core Sets Online
  
  ICF Core Sets facilitate the description of functioning in clinical practice by providing lists of categories that are relevant for specific health conditions and health care contexts to allow a user-friendly description of functioning and disability, and to support the applicability of ICF in practice.
  
  
  
• Towards a Common Language for Functioning, Disability and Health
  pdf, 226kb
  
  A Guide for Beginners
  
  
  
• ICF Practical Manual - Exposure draft for comments
  pdf, 1.52Mb
  
  Exposure draft for comments. Please provide feedback to WHO at robinsonm@who.int.
  
  
  

MERGING ICF-CY INTO ICF

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) is a WHO approved “derived” classification based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In the interest of a streamlined, comprehensive ICF which adequately addresses all aspects of functioning across the lifespan, the relevant stakeholders have agreed to merge the two classifications back into one while completing other updates and revisions. This Resolution outlines that decision and provides additional detail about the process moving forward.

• WHOFIC Resolution 2012: Merger of ICF-CY INTO ICF
  pdf, 311kb

Paged updated on 10 January 2014.