Properties of joined who ICF-Cy body functions b codes and activity and participation d codes in childhood disability

Aim: To examine the possibility of joining ICF-CY body functions b codes and activity and participation d codes to create a common disability variable Study design: Open field pilot research study Methods: The parents of 332 children with spina bifida, spinal muscular atrophy, muscular disorders, cerebral palsy, visually impairment, hearing impairment, mental disability and disability following treatment for brain tumours were visited and 47 body functions b codes and 57 activities and participation d code qualifiers were scored. Each code had 5 qualifier levels. Following Rasch analysis, 33 b codes and 39 d codes were retrieved. Fifty four of these were selected to cover the full spectrum of disability in the best possible way. After joining them, they underwent psychometric and Rasch data analysis to create a disability variable based on both ICF-CY coding systems. Results: The mean score of the joined b and d codes was 0.96, with SD 1.00 and range 0.28–2.15. Variance was 1.69, range 0.49–3.13 and Cronbach’s alpha 0.98. Inter-code correlation was 0.67, range 0.10–0.98. Rasch analysis documented good coverage on the whole range of the disability variable. The lowest score was −4.97, and the highest was 4.86. The mean location was −1.52. The joined codes were ordered. Furthermore, the distribution of the b and d codes on the child-code map documented a better measure of disability with d codes, in children with relatively less disability. Conclusion: Separate ICF-CY body functions b codes and activities and participation d codes underwent previous selection after Rasch analysis and then were joined to cover the whole spectrum of disability in childhood, which it did well. As such, the codes can be implemented to register and monitor the total severity range of childhood disability and can be a common disability variable for children with 8 different disabilities. It is hoped that the ICF-CY codes thus selected, when added to ICD-10 diagnosis registering, can contribute to better information on disability across health sectors for both individual children and groups of children.