In spite of a large number of existing scales for stroke outcome assessment, the problem of precise, holistic and unified international scale for use by clinicians, researchers and policy-makers is still under discussion. International Classification of Functioning (ICF) is a tool elaborated by the World Health Organization in order to provide a multi-dimensional framework for health and disability. ICF aims to provide a conceptual basis and an universal common language for describing and understanding patient's health status, reaching beyond mortality, diseases and medical diagnoses. Some studies have shown that ICF is efficient for assessing stroke outcomes and may represent an interesting alternative to be used for reaching better outcomes in the rehabilitation process, as well as for research and policy-making purpuses.

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