Reconsideration of the scheme of the international classification of functioning, disability and health: incentives from the Netherlands for a global debate.

Purpose: The ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) framework (used worldwide to describe 'functioning' and 'disability'), including the ICF scheme (visualization of functioning as result of interaction with health condition and contextual factors), needs reconsideration. The purpose of this article is to discuss alternative ICF schemes.

Method: Reconsideration of ICF via literature review and discussions with 23 Dutch ICF experts.

The fountain of age: a remarkable 3D shape that portrays health and functional differences among the European elderly.

There are very few norms to evaluate and monitor the health and functioning of the elderly. This paper proposes a compact spatial representation of 25 health measurements of European citizens older than 50 years. Data from 44,285 unique individuals were obtained from the EU-wide Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe(SHARE) data collected in 2004-2007 and were analyzed by homogeneity analysis, a form of non-linear principal components analysis.

Red fist and muscle weakness with a rare complication.

A 64-year-old man was referred to our hospital, for a second opinion, with fever, skin lesions and general muscle pain. He has been treated in another hospital with antibiotics on suspicion of erysipelas. A week later skin lesions developed on the metacarpophalangeal and proximal carpophalangeal joints of the hands and nose.

Impact of multimorbidity on functioning: evaluating the ICF Core Set approach in an empirical study of people with rheumatic diseases.

Objective: Chronic conditions can lead to considerable deterioration in functioning. Several condition-specific Core Sets, selections of categories from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), have been developed to facilitate the rehabilitation process. Considering the increase in patients with more than one specific condition, we evaluated the impact of multimorbidity on functioning and the implications for the Core Set approach.