Functioning in individuals with physical disabilities - Content validity of a tool based on the ICF

Abstract

Introduction: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a unified framework and standardized language for describing health. It is encouraged to be used to monitor functional achievements throughout patients’ therapeutic process. Physiotherapy should provide and examine care with appropriate standardized assessments. To address both needs, a tool based on the ICF codes and qualifiers was created to monitor the therapeutic process of patients with physical disabilities. Objective: To validate the content of a physiotherapeutic functional assessment tool for children and adults with physical disabilities based on ICF codes and qualifiers Methods: A prospective cross-sectional content-validity study was performed. The instrument was sent to 30 physiotherapists specialized in the care of individuals with physical disabilities to be evaluated for its comprehensibility, relevance and applicability for adult and pediatric population. The content validity index (CVI) was used to determine the interrater agreement, and a minimum of 90% was considered acceptable. Results: At first, one item was considered incomprehensible (CVI ≤ 90%); and, together with other six items that received important suggestions, they were revised and considered comprehensible after revision. Forty items were considered relevant for both populations, although some differences led to two different instruments. Conclusion: We were able to provide an ICF based tool with highly comprehensible and relevant items to address individuals with physical disabilities.