Linking COURAGE in Europe Built Environment instrument to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY)

ObjectivesThe aim of the paper is to prove that the COURAGE in Europe Built Environment (CBE) instrument selected items are relevant to health and disability assessment and evaluation.Study designThe two lists of the CBE preliminary items – outdoor checklist and self-reported questionnaire – were linked to the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) through established linking rules.ResultsThe pool of the CBE 162 preliminary items were linked to a total of 184 categories of ICF-CY, and belonged mainly to two out of the four of the ICF-CY components. Fifteen of the items were not linked to any category of the ICF-CY classification at all. The linking process showed that more than 90% of CBE preliminary items were linked to ICF-CY categories and more than 4/5 of them were linked to the ICF-CY component of environmental factors.ConclusionThe fact that most of the linked CBE preliminary items referred to few ICF categories, on one hand showed that the ICF framework encompasses a lot of different aspects related to functioning and disability; on the other hand ICF categories are not very detailed for a comprehensive description of the built environment features.