Personal Factors in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Prospective Evidence

Abstract

The goal of this study was to propose a systematic classification of relevant personal factors for describing the background of an individual's life and way of living. The German Society of Social Medicine and Prevention constituted an ICF working group consisting of members from Medical Advisory Boards of Statutory Health Insurances (n = 6) and other institutions (n = 12) in 2009. A two-tier consensus building approach was utilised to construct and document the personal factors, with an initial team of experts compiling the personal factors and a second group of experts, who had not participated in developing the initial proposal, validating the process. The consensus process resulted in personal factors classified into 72 categories and arranged in six chapters as follows: general factors normally unchangeable (chapter 1); a person's inherent physical and mental constitution (chapters 2 and 3); more modifiable factors, such as attitudes, basic skills and behaviour patterns (chapter 4); life situation and socioeconomic/sociocultural factors (chapter 5); and other health factors e.g., prior interventions (chapter 6). We believe the personal factors from this effort to be a good basis for a wider global dialogue on their operationalisation. Keywords: ICF, contextual factors, personal factors, attributes, German Society forSocial Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP) The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health, ICF (World Health Organization, 2001) is gaining more and more ground in terms of interest, recognition, and use in Germany, especially in the fields of social medicine, medical and vocational rehabilitation (Rentsch & Bucher, 2005;Ewert, Freudenstein, & Stucki, 2008). When the ICF was endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001, there was great support for the idea of expanding the model for classifying impairment, disability, and handicap. Since that time, classification efforts have expanded beyond the sequelae of diseases. Additionally, they have also addressed the potential influence of external environmental factors, as well as the internal contexts that are integral to the individual. Contextual factors are extremely important in working with the ICF (Fries & Fischer, 2008). Personal factors play an essential part in effecting health problems and the impact of disability on inclusion. WHO describes personal factors as internal factors, which 'may include gender, age, coping styles, social background, education, profession, past and current experience, overall behaviour pattern, character and other factors that influence how disability is experienced by the individual' (WHO, 2001, p. 11). We define personal factors as the particular background of an individual's life and living, including features of the individual that are not part of a health condition or health states, and which can impact functioning positively or negatively. Nevertheless, personal factors are not yet classified in the ICF; 'Their assessment is left to the user, if needed' (WHO, 2001, p. 19). ...

A longitudinal examination of dyadic distress patterns following a skills intervention for carers of adolescents with anorexia nervosa

“…The participants' socio-demographic background was summarized using descriptive statistics. Personal factors were linked to second-level categories as classified by Grotkamp et al [26].…”

“…However, there have been attempts to classify personal factors into categorical codes. For example, Grotkamp et al [26] proposed to structure 72 personal factors into 6 different chapters. The ICF-CY, which includes all ICF-categories, plus additional ones for children and youth, consists of 1685 categories (531 body functions; 329 body structures; 552 activities and participation categories; and 273 environmental factors).…”

Health behaviour change theories: contributions to an ICF-based behavioural exercise therapy for individuals with chronic diseases

“…In general, the development of the ICF component ''personal factors'' seems to be basic for a stringent ICF-based description of rehabilitation interventions [27]. After the recent publication of a suggested classification of personal factors [78], future discussion will show its acceptance in rehabilitation science and its usefulness for describing complex interventions which target behaviour change.…”

Self-efficacy and pain acceptance as mediators of the relationship between pain and performance of valued life activities in women and men with rheumatoid arthritis

“…This model comprises the components "Activities and participation", "Personal factors", "Environmental factors", and "Body Functions and Body structures". 5,9,10 The model included pain as an impairment (body function), and personal factors as possible mediators for participation in valued activities. Previous research has demonstrated associations between management strategies and participation in valued activities.…”