Health literacy in children with asthma: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Respiratory Medicine
• Health Literacy Research

Background:

• Health literacy (HL) is crucial for managing asthma, but its role in pediatric asthma is not well-defined.
• Existing research primarily focuses on adult HL, leaving gaps in understanding children's HL and its impact on their asthma.
• Direct assessment of children's HL related to asthma is limited, hindering effective management strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the literature on the relationship between health literacy and asthma in children.
• To identify current knowledge gaps regarding children's HL and its direct assessment in the context of asthma.
• To evaluate the existing instruments for measuring children's HL in relation to asthma.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature review was conducted, searching electronic databases for studies published between January 2005 and August 2016.
• Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to select relevant studies assessing the relationship between HL and pediatric asthma.
• Quality appraisal was performed on the selected studies to ensure the reliability of the findings.

Main Results:

• Thirteen studies were identified, predominantly examining the link between parental HL and pediatric asthma outcomes.
• Low parental HL was associated with poorer asthma control and increased healthcare utilization in children.
• Few studies directly assessed children's HL, and existing measurement tools were found to be inadequate for pediatric asthma patients.

Conclusions:

• Parental health literacy plays a significant role in pediatric asthma management, influencing control and healthcare use.
• There is a critical need for further research into children's own health literacy and the development of validated assessment tools.
• Longitudinal studies and advanced statistical methods are recommended to establish causal relationships between HL and pediatric asthma outcomes.