The Effect of Self-Management Interventions in Adults with Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: One’s self-management of chronic conditions such as Asthma becomes crucial in managing their symptoms and improving their health. Along with the current advances of technology, managing one’s own self health is relatively accessible. One can receive their self-management interventions according to the availability preferred method of delivery. Objectives: To evaluate the effects of self-management interventions in adults with medical conditions of Asthma to improve the asthma symptoms and the quality of life. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Method: A comprehensive searched was performed on six different databases which follows in line with the eligibility criteria. Two reviewers independently distinguished the retrieved articles through screening, appraising the quality and extracting the data using a modified collection form. Sixteen published articles were identified and included in this review. Meta and subgroup analysis were conducted using the Review Manager software. Narrative analysis was conducted for the rest of the studies. Standardised mean difference (SMD) will determine its significance. Results: Sixteen studies were included in the review with eight of them analysed through meta-analysis. The remaining were analysed through narratively. A total of eleven countries were involved in this review. The effect of self-management improves the asthma quality of life outcome of an individual which indicates statistically significance with overall pool effect size of (SMD=0.46, 95% CI=0.10 to 0.82). Conclusion & Implications: It is prominent that preventive measures for chronic diseases remain updated together with the current healthcare system. Findings from this review may aid in enhancing education of self-management for asthma in clinical practice. Future research may further investigate the qualitative aspects and the influences of the individual participants receiving various modes of delivery in self-management interventions across the global.