Compare methods

	ICF Linking Rules	ICF Coding
Field	Disability Studies	Disability Studies
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	2005	2001
Originator	Alarcos Cieza and colleagues (ICF Research Branch)	World Health Organization
Type	Content-analysis pipeline for mapping items to a reference classification	Classification-coding pipeline for functioning and disability
Seminal source	Cieza, A., Geyh, S., Chatterji, S., Kostanjsek, N., Üstün, B., & Stucki, G. (2005). ICF linking rules: an update based on lessons learned. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 37(4), 212-218.	World Health Organization. (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: ICF. Geneva: WHO. ISBN: 9789241545426
Aliases	ICF Content Comparison, Instrument-to-ICF Linking, ICF Mapping Rules	ICF Qualifier Coding, Functioning Profile Coding, ICF Category Assignment
Related	3	3
Summary	The ICF linking rules are a standardized procedure, introduced by Alarcos Cieza and colleagues at the ICF Research Branch and refined over subsequent years, for mapping the content of health and functioning instruments onto the categories of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. By extracting the meaningful concepts contained in each item and assigning them to the most precise matching ICF category, the rules make it possible to compare what different questionnaires actually measure, to express scores in a common functioning language, and to detect content that the ICF does not cover, such as personal factors. They are the bridge between the world's many disability instruments and the single ICF reference framework.	ICF coding is the procedure for describing a person's functioning and disability using the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), published in 2001. Rather than recording a diagnosis, the coder selects categories from four components — body functions, body structures, activities and participation, and environmental factors — and appends numeric qualifiers that grade how much of a problem exists or, for environmental factors, whether something is a barrier or a facilitator. The result is a standardized functioning profile that operationalizes the biopsychosocial model of disability and makes information comparable across settings, conditions, and countries.