Article

PURPOSE: To compare the official requirements of the content of disability
evaluation for social insurance across Europe and to explore how the
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health is currently
applied, using the rights and obligations of people with disabilities towards
society as frame of reference. METHODS: Survey. We used a semi-structured
questionnaire to interview members of the European Union of Medicine in Assurance
and Social Security (EUMASS), who are central medical advisors in social
insurance systems in their country. We performed two email follow-up rounds to
complete and verify responses. RESULTS: Fifteen respondents from 15 countries
participated. In all countries, medical examiners are required to report about a
claimant's working capacity and prognosis. In 14 countries, medical reports ought
to contain information about socio-medical history and feasible interventions to
improve the claimant's health status. The format of medical reporting on working
capacity varies widely (free text, semi- and fully structured reports). One
country makes a reference to the ICF in their reports on working capacity, others
consider doing so. CONCLUSION: Official requirements on medical reporting about
disability in social insurance across Europe follow the frame of four features:
work capacity, socio-medical history, feasibility of intervention and prognosis
of disability. There is an increasing trend to make formal or informal reference
to the ICF in the reports about working capacity. The four features and the ICF
may provide common references across countries to describe disability evaluation,
facilitating national and international research. Implications for Rehabilitation
Reporting about disability in social insurance in different countries is about
work capacity, social medical history, feasibility of intervention and prognosis
of disability. Formats of reporting on work capacity vary among countries, from
free text to semi-structured report forms to fully structured and scaled report
forms of working capacity. The ICF could serve as a reference for describing work
capacity, provided the ICF contains all necessary categories.
- CIF

Langue : ANGLAIS