Rational prescribing for asthma in adults – written asthma action plans

Written asthma action plans.

T he first British guidelines for the management of asthma in adults published in 1990 clearly recommended self-management of asthma. The exact statement read: ‘‘As far as possible, patients should be trained to manage their own treatment rather than be required to consult their doctor before making changes’’. Similar advice has been repeated in subsequent revisions of the UK guidelines and in ...

Do Written Asthma Action Plans Improve Outcomes?

With appropriate management, children with asthma should expect few symptoms, no limits on activity, rare exacerbations, and normal lung function. Appropriate education of parents and other caregivers of children with asthma has clearly been shown to help achieve these goals. Although recommended in asthma guidelines, providing written asthma action plans does not improve outcomes beyond asthma...

Written action plans for asthma: an evidence-based review of the key components.

BACKGROUND Written action plans for asthma facilitate the early detection and treatment of an asthma exacerbation. Several versions of action plans have been published but the key components have not been determined. A study was undertaken to determine the impact of individual components of written action plans on asthma health outcomes. METHODS Randomised controlled trials (n=26) that evalua...

Review: individualized written action plans based on peak expiratory flow improve asthma health outcomes.

Written emotional disclosure for asthma.

BACKGROUND Psychological stress has been widely implicated in asthma exacerbation. Evidence suggests that written emotional disclosure, an intervention that involves writing about traumatic or stressful experiences, helps to reduce stress and promote physical and psychological well-being. Written emotional disclosure may have a role in the management of asthma. OBJECTIVES This review aims to ...