Linking of Items in Two Function-related Questionnaires to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Shoulder Pain

Purpose: This study was to identify international classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF) categories that could be linked conceptually to disability of arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) items and short form of health survey 36 (SF-36) items for persons with shoulder pain. Methods: Linkage between each item in DASH and SF-36 and the categories in the ICF were assessed. The linking process was performed by ten health professionals following the linking rule. One hundred four patients with shoulder pain were enrolled from 12 private clinic outpatient departments and participated in this study. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between each scale item and the linked ICF code. Results: Thirty DASH items were able to be linked to 30 ICF codes, whereas the 36 items in SF-36 were only linked to 17 ICF codes. General health items included in SF-36 could not be linked to a relevant ICF concept. There was a high correlation between the two measurement tools and the linked ICF codes, DASH and its ICF code list (r =0.91), SF-36-Physical Health and its code list (r =-0.62), and SF-36-Mental Health and its code list (r =-0.72). Conclusion: The results suggest that concepts within each item in DASH can be linked to ICF codes for patients with shoulder pain, however, the concepts in the SF-36 items had limited linkage to ICF codes. The shoulder-specific functional tool, DASH can be expressed with ICF codes and, therefore, its use can promote data standardization and improve communication between professionals.