Application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health system to symptoms of the Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies.

The categories were chosen by two clinicians, and agreement was calculated only for second-level categories. The linkage used retrospectively collected medical-record data, not tests ordered for a specific purpose, and 9 of the 24 retained second-level categories could not be linked. Activity and participation information was not collected in the surveillance database, so the paper cannot describe how dystrophinopathy affects daily life or social roles. Hawaii was excluded from the record analysis because follow-up was limited. The study did not test any therapy or compare groups, so it cannot show that a rehabilitation plan based on these categories improves outcomes.

Data collection and writing were supported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cooperative agreements; the authors report no conflicts of interest.

Do not read the selected ICF categories as a validated dystrophinopathy core set or as proof that therapy works. They were chosen by two clinicians and only 15 of the 24 retained second-level categories could be linked to medical-record data; no therapy was tested.