Article

Physical therapists should understand the content included in
self-report questionnaires in order to choose the appropriate questionnaire for
examination and follow-up purposes. The International Classification of
Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a universal and standard
language for the description of health and health-related states and can be used
for the content comparison of self-report questionnaires. Objective The purpose
of this study was to describe and compare the contents covered by 8 self-report
measures used in vestibular rehabilitation based on the linkage of their content
to the ICF. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study. METHOD: Eight vestibular
questionnaires were identified and linked to the ICF by 2 health care
professionals according to established linking rules. Based on the linking, the
contents of the 8 questionnaires were compared and the interobserver agreement
between 2 raters was estimated using kappa coefficients. RESULTS: A total of 312
meaningful concepts from the 164 items of the 8 vestibular questionnaires were
identified and linked to the ICF. The meaningful concepts identified were linked
to 51 different ICF components: 19 categories of the component "body functions,"
30 categories of the component "activities and participation," and 2 categories
of the component "environmental factors." Forty-two concepts could not be linked
to any of the ICF components. The estimated kappa coefficients for 2 raters at
the component and first and second levels of the ICF ranged from 0.83 to 0.96.
Limitations The method of identifying vestibular measures was not based on a
systematic search; instead, the most widely used instruments in the field of
vestibular rehabilitation were selected. Thus, the study results are limited to
the examined vestibular instruments. CONCLUSION: Using the ICF as a theoretical
framework was found to be useful for comparing the content of health status
questionnaires, as well as for exploring the focus of the measures currently in
use in vestibular rehabilitation.

Langue : ANGLAIS