Does Hand Therapy Literature Incorporate the Holistic View of Health and Function Promoted by the World Health Organization?

The International Classification of Function (ICF), as formulated by the World Health Organization (WHO), is an accepted international standard for categorizing health and disability. We examined the frequency that ICF domains have been included in 788 Journal of Hand Therapy articles and 78 hand therapy articles from other sources using a scoring system based on the WHO ICF definitions. We found emphasis on body functions and body structures, with less emphasis placed on activities, participation, and environmental factors. This trend has remained stable over time despite the emergence of patient-centered disability measures. We recommend that scientists increasingly incorporate all of the WHO ICF domains in their scientific investigations to demonstrate the societal and personal impact of the profession in a language that is understood and appreciated by a wide array of health care users, policy makers, and third-party payers.