ICF Linking Rules

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.