Abstract
Background: The quality of life in neurological disorders (Neuro-QoL) is a U.S. National Institutes of Health initiative that produced a set of self-report measures of physical, mental, and social health experienced by adults or children who have a neurological condition or disorder. Objective: To describe the content of the Neuro-QoL at the item level using the World Health Organization’s international classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF). Methods: We assessed the Neuro-QoL for its content coverage of functioning and disability relative to each of the four ICF domains (i.e., body functions, body structures, activities and participation, and environment). We used second-level ICF three-digit codes to classify items into categories within each ICF domain and computed the percentage of categories within each ICF domain that were represented in the Neuro-QoL items. Results: All items of Neuro-QoL could be mapped to the ICF categories at the second-level classification codes. The activities and participation domain and the mental functions category of the body functions domain were the areas most often represented by Neuro-QoL. Neuro-QoL provides limited coverage of the environmental factors and body structure domains. Conclusions: Neuro-QoL measures map well to the ICF. The Neuro-QoL–ICF-mapped items provide a blueprint for users to select appropriate measures in ICF-based measurement applications.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2435-2448 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Quality of Life Research |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2017 |
Funding
This study was supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, the Administration on Community Living, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (Grant No. H133B090024) and to Washington University in St. Louis (Grant No. H133F140037), by the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation to Washington University in St. Louis (Grant No. 290474), and by the General Research Grant, Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (Grant No. 15104415) to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, or The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. We would like to acknowledge Megen Devine, MA and Ojoyi Agbo, BS at Washington University School of Medicine for their editorial assistance. This study was supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, the Administration on Community Living, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (Grant No. H133B090024) and to Washington University in St. Louis (Grant No. H133F140037), by the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation to Washington University in St. Louis (Grant No.?290474), and by the General Research Grant, Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (Grant No. 15104415) to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, or The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. We would like to acknowledge Megen Devine, MA and Ojoyi Agbo, BS at Washington University School of Medicine for their editorial assistance. All eight authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Keywords
- ICF
- Neurological disorders
- Outcomes assessment (Healthcare)
- Quality of life
- Rehabilitation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health