Validation of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Multiple Sclerosis from the perspective of occupational therapists

Abstract

Objective: The Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and represents the typical spectrum of problems in functioning of People with MS (PwMS). The objective of this study was to validate this ICF Core Set from the perspective of occupational therapists (OTs). Method: In a three-round Delphi study, OTs were asked about problems and resources of PwMS, as well as environmental aspects treated by OTs. Statements were linked to the ICF and compared with the categories included in the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for MS. Results: Sixty-one OTs from 21 countries agreed on 71 categories that are included in the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for MS (19 Body Functions, 40 categories of Activities and Participation, 12 Environmental Factors). Eleven ICF categories were identified as not-yet-included ICF categories in the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for MS (6 Body Functions, 2 categories of Activities and Participation, 3 Environmental Factors). Conclusion: This study contributes to the validity of the ICF categories included in the Comprehensive ICF Core Set. It outlines which areas of functioning and health are relevant for PwMS from the perspective of OTs and consequently should be assessed.     

Prospects and challenges in using patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice

Background  Patient-reported measures include preferences and reports about care received, health behaviors, and outcomes of care (patient satisfaction and health-related quality of life). These measures are a core aspect of health care, but there is much to be learned about how to use them to improve clinical practice. Method  We specify linkages among different patient-reported measures and focus upon the prospects and challenges for use of patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice. Results  Patient-reported measures are important throughout the continuum of patient care. At the initial visit, patient-reported outcomes provide information about what is important to the patient, the patient’s current behaviors, and the patient’s baseline health-related quality of life. At subsequent visits, patient-reported outcomes help evaluate disease progression or regression as well as treatment effects. Conclusions  Patient-reported measures can help clinicians target interventions that will improve patient outcomes of care. However, there are a number of challenges in using patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice.     

The changing role of health‐oriented international organizations and nongovernmental organizations

Apart from governments, there are many other actors active in the health policy arena, including a wide array of international organizations (IOs), public‐private partnerships and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) that state as their main mission to improve the health of (low‐income) populations of low‐income countries. Despite the steady rise in numbers and prominence of NGOs, however, there is lack of empirical knowledge about their functioning in the international policy arena, and most studies focus on the larger organizations. This has also caused a somewhat narrow focus of theoretical studies. Some scholars applied the ‘principal‐agent’ theory to study the origins of IOs, for example, other focus on changing power relations. Most of those studies implicitly assume that IOs, public‐private partnerships and large NGOs act as unified and rational actors, ignoring internal fragmentation and external pressure to change directions. We assert that the classic analytical instruments for understanding the shaping and outcome of public policy: ideas, interests and institutions apply well to the study of IOs. As we will show, changing ideas about the proper role of state and non‐state actors, changing positions and activities of major stakeholders in the (international) health policy arena, and shifts in political institutions that channel the voice of diverging interests resulted in (and reflected) the changing positions of the health‐oriented organizations‐and also affect their future outlook. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overuse and underuse of diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in various clinical settings.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and compare both overuse and underuse of diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in different settings. DESIGN: Merging of data from three prospective observational studies. The appropriateness and necessity of indications for gastroscopy were evaluated using explicit criteria developed by a standardized expert panel method (RAND-UCLA). Inappropriate endoscopies represent overuse. Necessary indications not referred for the procedure constitute underuse. SETTING: Three primary care outpatient clinics, 20 general practices, three gastroenterology practices, two district and one university hospitals. SUBJECTS: A third of the collective were consecutive ambulatory patients with upper abdominal complaints, whereas the other two thirds were ambulatory and hospitalized patients referred for the procedure. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportions of overuse and underuse in the different settings. RESULTS: A total of 2885 patients were included (mean age, 49 years, 52% male, 2442 outpatients), 1858 patients underwent > or = 1 endoscopy. Among 2086 endoscopies, 805 (39%) were inappropriate, most of which were performed for dyspepsia (83%). Overuse was higher in young, foreign, female patients and lower in inpatient settings, the latter reflecting a different distribution of presenting symptoms. Among 1646 patient visits in primary care, overuse represented 148 endoscopies (9%). Underuse was identified in 104 of the same patient visits (6%) and was higher as patient age increased; there were no significant differences between men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Rates of overuse and underuse depend mainly on case presentation and patient characteristics. Both over- and underuse should be addressed to maintain and improve quality of care.     

Towards Consensus in Operational Definitions in Functional Capacity Evaluation: a Delphi Survey

Introduction The problem of inconsistent terminology in functional capacity evaluation (FCE) has been widely addressed in the international literature. Many different terms seem to be used interchangeably while other terms appear to be interpreted differently. This may seriously hinder FCE research and clinical use. To gain consensus in operational definitions in FCE and conceptual framework to classify terminology used in FCE. Methods A Delphi Survey with FCE experts was conducted which consisted of three rounds of questioning, using semi and full structured questions. The expert group was formed from international experts in FCE. Experts were selected if they met any of the following criteria: at least one international publication as first author and one as co-author in the field of FCE; or an individual who had developed an FCE that was subject of investigation in at least one publication in international literature. Consensus of definitions was considered when 75% or more of all experts agreed with a definition. Results In total, 22 international experts from 6 different countries in Australia, Europe and North America, working in different health related sectors, participated in this study. Conclusion Consensus concerning conceptual framework of FCE was met in 9 out of 20 statements. Consensus on definitions was met in 10 out of 19 definitions. Experts agreed to use the ICF as a conceptual framework in which terminology of FCE should be classified and agreed to use pre-defined terms of the ICF. No consensus was reached about the definition of FCE, for which two potential eligible definitions remained. Consensus was reached in many terms used in FCE. For future research, it was recommended that researchers use these terms, use the ICF as a conceptual framework and clearly state which definition for FCE is used because no definition of FCE was consented.     

Validation of a generic measure of continuity of care: when patients encounter several clinicians

PURPOSE Patients who regularly see more than one clinician for health problems risk discontinuity and fragmented care. Our objective was to develop and validate a generic measure of management continuity from the patient perspective. METHODS Themes from 33 qualitative studies of patient experience with care from various clinicians were matched to existing instruments to identify potential measures and measurement gaps. Adapted and new items were tested cognitively, and the instrument was administered to 376 adult patients consulting in primary care for a variety of health conditions but seeing clinicians in a variety of settings. After initial psychometric analysis, the instrument was modified slightly and readministered after 6 months. The analysis identified reliable subscales and their association with indicators of continuity. RESULTS Observed factors correspond to 8 intended constructs, with good reliability. Three subscales (12 items) relate to the principal clinician and cover management and relational continuity. Four subscales (13 items) are related to multiple clinicians and address team relational continuity and problems with coordination and gaps in information transfer. Two (11 items) pertain to the patient's partnership in care. Subscales correlate well and in expected directions with indicators of discontinuity (wanting to change clinicians, suffering, and sense of being abandoned, medical errors) and degree of care organization. CONCLUSION The instrument reliably assesses both positive and negative dimensions of continuity of care across the entire system, and the subscales correlate with continuity effects. It supports patient-centered and relationship-based care and can be used as a whole or in part to assess coordination and continuity in primary care.     

Applying the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health to guide home health care services planning and delivery in Thailand

ABSTRACT

Home health care is an essential service for home-bound patients in Thailand. In this action research study, we used the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework to modify home health care services provided by a university hospital. Staff responsible for delivering the services (physical therapist, nurses, and Thai traditional medicine practitioners) participated in the development of an ICF-based assessment tool and home health care service procedure. After an 8-month trial of implementing these changes, professional satisfaction and empowerment were high among the home health care team members. Patients and their caregivers were also satisfied with the services. In conclusion, the ICF is an effective means of guiding home health care.     

A systematic review of measures of end-of-life care and its outcomes

OBJECTIVE: To identify psychometrically sound measures of outcomes in end-of-life care and to characterize their use in intervention studies. DATA SOURCES: English language articles from 1990 to November 2005 describing measures with published psychometric data and intervention studies of end-of-life care. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review of end-of-life care literature. EXTRACTION METHODS: Two reviewers organized identified measures into 10 major domains. Eight reviewers extracted and characterized measures from intervention studies. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Of 24,423 citations, we extracted 200 articles that described 261 measures, accepting 99 measures. In addition to 35 measures recommended in a prior systematic review, we identified an additional 64 measures of the end-of-life experience. The most robust measures were in the areas of symptoms, quality of life, and satisfaction; significant gaps existed in continuity of care, advance care planning, spirituality, and caregiver well-being. We also reviewed 84 intervention studies in which 135 patient-centered outcomes were assessed by 97 separate measures. Of these, 80 were used only once and only eight measures were used in more than two studies. CONCLUSIONS: In general, most measures have not undergone rigorous development and testing. Measure development in end-of-life care should focus on areas with identified gaps, and testing should be done to facilitate comparability across the care settings, populations, and clinical conditions. Intervention research should use robust measures that adhere to these standards.     

New pathways for primary care: an update on primary care programs from the innovation center at CMS

Those in practice find that the fee-for-service system does not adequately value the contributions made by primary care. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) was created by the Affordable Care Act to test new models of health care delivery to improve the quality of care while lowering costs. All programs coming out of the Innovation Center are tests of new payment and service delivery models. By changing both payment and delivery models and moving to a payment model that rewards physicians for quality of care instead of volume of care, we may be able to achieve the kind of health care patients want to receive and primary care physicians want to provide.     

The accountability of clinical education: its definition and assessment

BACKGROUND: Medical education is not exempt from increasing societal expectations of accountability. Competition for financial resources requires medical educators to demonstrate cost-effective educational practice; health care practitioners, the products of medical education programmes, must meet increasing standards of professionalism; the culture of evidence-based medicine demands an evaluation of the effect educational programmes have on health care and service delivery. Educators cannot demonstrate that graduates possess the required attributes, or that their programmes have the desired impact on health care without appropriate assessment tools and measures of outcome. OBJECTIVE: To determine to what extent currently available assessment approaches can measure potentially relevant medical education outcomes addressing practitioner performance, health care delivery and population health, in order to highlight areas in need of research and development. METHODS: Illustrative publications about desirable professional behaviour were synthesized to obtain examples of required competencies and health outcomes. A MEDLINE search for available assessment tools and measures of health outcome was performed. RESULTS: There are extensive tools for assessing clinical skills and knowledge. Some work has been done on the use of professional judgement for assessing professional behaviours; scholarship; and multiprofessional team working; but much more is needed. Very little literature exists on assessing group attributes of professionals, such as clinical governance, evidence-based practice and workforce allocation, and even less on examining individual patient or population health indices. CONCLUSIONS: The challenge facing medical educators is to develop new tools, many of which will rely on professional judgement, for assessing these broader competencies and outcomes.     

ICF功能障碍组合在神经内科住院患者疗效评估中的应用

目的探讨国际功能、残疾和健康分类(International Classification of Functioning,Disability,and Health,ICF)功能障碍组合(ICF Disability Set)30个类目在神经内科住院患者临床疗效评估中的应用。方法 80例神经内科住院患者,于治疗前、治疗后,采用中国版ICF功能障碍组合、Barthel指数(BI)、世界卫生组织残疾评定量表(WHO Disability Assessment Schedule,WHODASⅡ)、抑郁自评量表(self-rating depression scale,SDS)进行评定,对脑卒中患者还进行美国国立卫生研究院卒中量表(National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale,NIHSS)、蒙特利尔认知评估量表(Montreal Cognitive Assessment,MOCA)评分,分析ICF功能障碍组合量表与BI、WHODASⅡ、SDS、及与卒中患者NIHSS、Mo CA评分的相关性及一致性。结果 ICF功能障碍组合总体及身体功能和活动与参与两个分量表的Cronbachα系数为0.803、0.834、0.926;与BI、WHODASⅡ、SDS评分以及与脑卒中患者NIHSS、Mo CA评分均有显著相关(r=0.316~0.830,P0.05或P0.01)。80例患者ICF功能障碍组合量表30个类目中前后比较除b280痛觉、b640性功能和b620排尿功能没有统计学意义(P0.05),d850有报酬的就业不适用,其余均有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论 ICF功能障碍组合能准确描述患者的功能障碍和反映其疗效评估,是有效的临床评定工具,值得临床推广使用。     

Waste in the U.S. Health Care System: A Conceptual Framework

Context: Health care costs in the United States are much higher than those in industrial countries with similar or better health system performance. Wasteful spending has many undesirable consequences that could be alleviated through waste reduction. This article proposes a conceptual framework to guide researchers and policymakers in evaluating waste, implementing waste‐reduction strategies, and reducing the burden of unnecessary health care spending. Methods: This article divides health care waste into administrative, operational, and clinical waste and provides an overview of each. It explains how researchers have used both high‐level and sector‐ or procedure‐specific comparisons to quantify such waste, and it discusses examples and challenges in both waste measurement and waste reduction. Findings: Waste is caused by factors such as health insurance and medical uncertainties that encourage the production of inefficient and low‐value services. Various efforts to reduce such waste have encountered challenges, such as the high costs of initial investment, unintended administrative complexities, and trade‐offs among patients', payers', and providers' interests. While categorizing waste may help identify and measure general types and sources of waste, successful reduction strategies must integrate the administrative, operational, and clinical components of care, and proceed by identifying goals, changing systemic incentives, and making specific process improvements. Conclusions: Classifying, identifying, and measuring waste elucidate its causes, clarify systemic goals, and specify potential health care reforms that—by improving the market for health insurance and health care—will generate incentives for better efficiency and thus ultimately decrease waste in the U.S. health care system.     

A cross-national comparison of the quality of clinical care using vignettes

In studies comparing clinical practice to evidence-based standards, researchers have found that quality of care is inconsistently provided to different segments of the population in both developing and developed countries. To test the hypothesis that quality of care varies widely within different countries, we conducted a prospectively designed evaluation of quality for three common clinical conditions: diarrhoea, tuberculosis and prenatal care. Five countries participated in the study: China, the Philippines, Mexico, El Salvador and India. Within each country, physicians were randomly selected from tertiary care hospitals, district level hospitals, and public and private outpatient clinics. A total of 488 previously validated case vignettes were administered to 300 participating physicians. Vignettes were scored according to evidence and expert based quality criteria. We used a random effects model to estimate the associations between quality scores by case, physician characteristics, study site, and country. We found that average quality of care was low (61.0%), but there exists a wide variation in overall quality (30-93%). While there was little difference in average quality scores between countries (60.2 to 62.6%), variation within countries was broad. The wide variation was consistent across facility type, medical condition and domain of care. We also found that younger, female, tertiary care and specialist physicians performed better than their counterparts. We conclude that some physicians provide exceptional care even in the setting of limited resources. Furthermore, poor quality can be addressed by health policy planners by directing remediation toward the lowest performers.     

Availability, Utilisation and Quality of Basic and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care Services in Malawi

Objective To establish a baseline for the availability, utilisation and quality of maternal and neonatal health care services for monitoring and evaluation of a maternal and neonatal morbidity/mortality reduction programme in three districts in the Central Region of Malawi. Methods Survey of all the 73 health facilities (13 hospitals and 60 health centres) that provide maternity services in the three districts (population, 2,812,183). Results There were 1.6 comprehensive emergency obstetric care (CEmOC) facilities per 500,000 population and 0.8 basic emergency obstetric care (BEmOC) facilities per 125,000 population. About 23% of deliveries were conducted in emergency obstetric care (EmOC) facilities and the met need for emergency obstetric complications was 20.7%. The case fatality rate for emergency obstetric complications treated in health facilities was 2.0%. Up to 86.7% of pregnant women attended antenatal clinic at least once and only 12.0% of them attend postnatal clinic at least once. There is a shortage of qualified staff and unequal distribution with more staff in hospitals leaving health centres severely understaffed. Conclusions The total number of CEmOC facilities is adequate but the distribution is unequal, leaving some rural areas with poor access to CEmOC services. There are no functional BEmOC facilities in the three districts. In order to reduce maternal mortality in Malawi and countries with similar socio-economic profile, there is a need to upgrade some health facilities to at least BEmOC level by training staff and providing equipment and supplies.     

医药卫生体制改革国际比较

通过对市场主导型、国家福利型、公共合同型和公私功能互补型这4类医药卫生体制的代表国家在国际医药卫生体制的改革重点方面进行分析与比较,找出国际医药卫生体制改革趋势,为中国的医药卫生体制改革提供有益的参考。     

Bosnian immigrants' perceptions of the United States health care system: a qualitative interview study

During the 1990s, approximately 300,000 Bosnian immigrants came to the United States as a result of the Balkan wars. In contrast to immigrants from less developed countries, Bosnian refugees were typically older, had experienced significant war related trauma, and were accustomed to universal health insurance coverage. There is little information about Bosnian immigrants' transition to the U.S. health care system. As part of a related project, 12 Bosnian immigrants were interviewed about their perceptions of the U.S. health care system and their experiences as patients. Participants were universally critical of the U.S. system and described several core issues: confusion about insurance coverage, personalized quality of care, access to primary and specialty care; and a perception of U.S. health care as bureaucratic. Participants compared their experience with prewar Bosnian health care along these dimensions. Implications of the findings and suggestions for improving care to the Bosnian immigrant population are provided.     

Health social workers’ assessments as part of a specialized pain rehabilitation: a clinical data-mining study

ABSTRACT

This study examines how health social workers (HSWs) assess the rehabilitation needs of patients with long-term pain. Data were extracted from 66 patient assessments through a retrieval form based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. The assessments included information about relations, work, and recreation. Stress management, problem solving, self-care, participation in community life, and providing personal care were missing in parts of or all assessments. Differences in assessments suggest that information was registered based on traditional gender roles and age. Therefore, HSWs need standardized assessment tools to ensure that assessments are relevant for all patients with long-term pain irrespective of gender or age.