ReviewFrontiers in public health2026
A call for action to strengthen stakeholder readiness for ICF data exchange in European health data space: a structured narrative review.
Review in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The European Health Data Space (EHDS) regulation introduces a transformative framework for the exchange of health data among EU stakeholders. Among its interoperability measures is the inclusion of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a standard for documenting functioning in patient summaries and discharge reports. While ICF offers a biopsychosocial lens to complement disease-centric classifications, the availability of interoperable ICF data remains uneven. Objective: This structured narrative review examines the readiness of EU stakeholders to exchange and utilize ICF data within EHDS. It explores current practices from the data availability and technical infrastructure perspectives, discusses influencing factors such as legislative frameworks and socio-ethical conditions, identifies gaps, and proposes actionable recommendations for the future. Methods: Given the limited data available on this topic, a structured narrative review was performed, including a structured literature search from five databases. Additionally, targeted searches were performed in policy repositories and institutional sources. The search included documents written in English, Finnish, and Italian, and the study objective defined the scope for the literature search. Documents were analyzed to synthesize contextual information across stakeholders, identify gaps, and gain strategic insights. Results: In total, 78 studies and gray literature references are discussed in the synthesis. The available evidence on ICF data infrastructures across EU stakeholders reveals significant disparities. Many countries lack standardized EHR support for structured ICF data storage. There is a need to include and map the ICF to international key terminologies and health informatics frameworks to ensure semantic interoperability. Low professional awareness further hinders data availability. Unequal digital literacy and limited citizen empowerment compromise efficient use of ICF. To address these gaps, a three-phase roadmap is proposed: (1) promoting ICF awareness and structured documentation, (2) advancing technical integration through FHIR and ontology development, and (3) aligning policy and governance to support scaling. Conclusion: Integrating the ICF into EHDS is not merely a technical task; it redefines how health is conceived and measured. By addressing readiness across data, technical, legal, and socio-ethical dimensions, the EU can unlock the full potential of functioning data to improve the well-being of its citizens.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.