ArticleThe South African journal of physiotherapy2026
Teaching the ICF or using the ICF to teach? Lessons from first-time clinical practice.
Article in The South African journal of physiotherapy, 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
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Clinical education is central to physiotherapy training, yet many students enter their first placements with limited experience in holistic clinical reasoning. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a biopsychosocial framework for understanding functioning, yet its use in early clinical education remains underexplored. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate second-year physiotherapy students' self-reported understanding and application of the ICF following first time clinical exposure within a redesigned clinical course. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. All second-year physiotherapy students completing their first clinical placements in 2023 and 2024 at a South African university were invited to complete a self-developed survey. The survey assessed perceived understanding and application of ICF components using Likert-scale and categorical items. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Results: Of the 138 eligible students, 106 responded (76.9%). Students reported improved perceived understanding of the ICF, with retrospective ratings increasing from a mean of 6 before placement to 9 after placement. Confidence in applying the ICF was high (mean = 8). Conclusion: Early clinical exposure structured around the ICF may support the development of holistic reasoning and encourage students to move beyond impairment-focused thinking. Clinical implications: Embedding the ICF into early placements may strengthen patient-centred clinical reasoning.
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.