Martina Zangger

Martina Zangger

Towards the Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Menopause Health Care: A Systematic Review of the Diffusion of the ICF in Switzerland

Aims

To present a systematic literature review on the diffusion of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) across different health conditions and regions in Switzerland in order to develop an ICF classification on the climacteric syndrome in the medium-term.

Methods

A systematic literature search was conducted through EMBASE and MEDLINE covering the period between 2011 and August 2016. Inclusion criteria were the term ICF in title or abstract and Switzerland as the working place of the first author. Identified publications were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results

A total of 83 articles were included in the analysis. 47 different first authors from 24 different working places were identified. The majority of publications was from the Swiss Paraplegic Research (68.7%) and focused on neurology (31.3%). 46 cohort studies were identified. In most of them, the ICF was used to set up a general language to compare patients’ information (82.9%). Only one paper on breast cancer from the medical specialty gynecology was identified. No paper on menopause was found.

Conclusion

In Switzerland, the ICF is actively used in various areas of health care, especially in the field of neurology and rehabilitation. There is a need for the development of ICF core sets in other medical fields, e.g. menopause health care, in order to practically accomplish the goals of the European Menopause and Andropause Society, that is a health care model for healthy menopause and aging.