The status and use of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH).

International monitoring of the ICIDH has begun in earnest. The momentum from these new activities and organizations has worked towards the unification and harmonization of statistics and information devoted to the study of disablement, further enhancing the interdisciplinary nature of the study of disability and advancing its recognition both at the national and international level. This article introduces the reader to the definitions and concepts of the ICIDH. In addition, problems confronted when applying the ICIDH in policy formulation, programme implementation and evaluation and in research are reviewed. There are three main types of problem: (i) the difficulty in differentiating each of the concepts of impairment, disability and handicap at the operational level of human function and behaviour; (ii) the diversity of training and instructions required in order to orchestrate the use of the codes and classification schemes with persons having a wide range of expertise and analytical interests; and (iii) the need for consistency of use of the ICIDH for model-building and testing of different theoretical frameworks. Increased institutional development at the global level through the establishment of international networks, and regional and interregional programmes, have further clarified strengths and weaknesses of the ICIDH and have increased support of its use. These efforts suggest the increasing importance of the ICIDH for the future development of international statistical standards and recommendations in the field of disablement.