The Effects of Health Literacy on Asthma Self-management

Abstract

The purpose of this inquiry was to explore, analyze, and synthesize the current research findings regarding the role of low health literacy in asthma self-management. The authors obtained relevant articles by conducting a search in the following databases: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed Plus, and Google Scholar. Search terms included combinations of asthma, peak flow, inhaler, asthma action plan, management, and literacy. The search was restricted to English-language publications and to studies recently conducted in the United States. Ten articles were retained that met these inclusion and exclusion criteria. Taken together, these data indicate that low health literacy is associated with less accurate metered-dose inhaler technique, less use of peak flow meters and asthma action plans, less ability to calculate peak flow zones, higher rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for asthma, and less desire to participate in decision making. Low health literacy is common and is a barrier to effective asthma self-management. Asthma educators are uniquely prepared to evaluate health literacy and to develop novel training programs that maximize the individual’s potential for independent asthma self-management.