Developing comprehensive and brief icf core sets for morbid obesity for disability assessment in taiwan: A preliminary study

Background. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) provides a framework for measuring functioning and disability based on a biopsychosocial model. Aim. The aim of this study was to develop comprehensive and brief ICF core sets for morbid obesity for disability assessment in Taiwan. Design. Observational Setting. Other Population. Twenty-nine multidisciplinary experts of ICF Methods. The questionnaire contained 112 obesity-relevant and second-level ICF categories. Using a 5-point Likert scale, the participants rated the significance of the effects of each category on the heath status of people with obesity. Correlation between an individual's score and the average score of the group indicated consensus. The categories were selected for the comprehensive core set for obesity if more than 50% of the experts rated them as "important" in the third round of the Delphi exercise, and for the brief core set if more than 80% of the experts rated them "very important." Results. Twenty-nine experts participated in the study. These included 18 physicians, 4 dieticians, 3 physical therapists, 2 nurses, and 2 ICF experts. The comprehensive core set for morbid obesity contained 61 categories. Of these, 26 categories were from the component body function, 8 were from body structure, 18 were from activities and participation, and 9 were from environmental factors. The brief core set for obesity disability contained 29 categories. Of these, 19 categories were from the component body function, 3 were from body structure, 6 were from activities and participation, and one was from environ- mental factors. The comprehensive and brief ICF core sets provide comprehensive information on the health effects of morbid obesity and concise information for clinical practice. Conclusion. Comprehensive and brief core sets were created after three rounds of Delphi technique. Further validation study of these core sets by applying to patients with morbid obesity is needed. Clinical Rehabilitation Impact. The comprehensive ICF core set for morbid obesity provides comprehensive information on the health effects of morbid obesity; the brief core set can provide concise information for clinical practice.