Measurement of Key Constructs in a Holistic Framework for Assessing Self-Management Effectiveness of Pediatric Asthma

The 2007 U.S. National Institutes of Health EPR-3 guidelines emphasize the importance creating a provider-patient partnership to enable patients/families to monitor and take control of their asthma, so that treatment can be adjusted as needed. However, major shortfalls continue to be reported in provider adherence to EPR-3 guidelines. For providers to be more engaged in asthma management, they need a comprehensive set of resources for measuring self-management effectiveness of asthma, which currently do not exist. In a previously published article in the Journal of Asthma and Allergy, the authors conducted a literature review, to develop a holistic framework for understanding self-management effectiveness of pediatric asthma. The essence of this framework, is that broad socioecological factors can influence self-agency (patient/family activation), to impact self-management effectiveness, in children with asthma. A component of socio-ecological factors of special relevance to providers, would be the quality of provider-patient/family communication on asthma management. Therefore, the framework encompasses three key constructs: (1) Provider-patient/family communication; (2) Patient/family activation; and (3) Self-management effectiveness. This paper conducts an integrative review of the literature, to identify existing, validated measures of the three key constructs, with a view to operationalizing the framework, and discussing its implications for asthma research and practice.