The ICF as a Conceptual Platform to Specify and Discuss Health and Health-Related Concepts

Background: The World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has provided a new foundation for our understanding of health, functioning, and disability. As a content-valid, comprehensive and universally applicable health classification, it serves as a platform to clarify and specify health-related concepts that are frequently used in the medical literature. The health concepts to which we refer are: well-being, health status, quality of life (QoL) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).