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WHO – FIC INFORMATION SHEET

September 2010

International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

Introduction

What is the ICF? The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a standard language and framework for describing and organizing information on functioning and disability. The ICF conceptualizes a person’s level of functioning as a dynamic interaction between her or his health conditions, environmental factors, and personal factors. Components of functioning and environmental factors are classified in the ICF; diseases and other health problems are classified in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). The ICF was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and was endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2001. Components of the ICF The ICF defines functioning and disability as multidimensional concepts relating to: • • • The body functions and structures of people The activities people do and the life areas in which they participate; and The factors in their environment that affect these experiences.

Source: World Health Organization 2001. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Geneva:WHO.

Figure 1a Interaction between ICF components

Figure 1b Illustration of functioning associated with cerebral palsy

For each of these components, the ICF provides a hierarchy of classifications and codes. In the ICF, a person’s functioning is conceived as a dynamic interaction between health conditions and environmental and personal factors (Figure 1a). An illustration using cerebral palsy as an example is at figure 1b.

ICF definitions • the body functions and structures, and impairments thereof (functioning at the level of the body); • the activities a person performs and the activity limitations he or she experiences (functioning at the level of the individual); the participation or involvement of a person...