Health literacy and self-management in people with coronary heart disease: a systematic review protocol

The objective of the review is to assess the association between health literacy levels and self-management behaviors in people with coronary heart disease.

Initiating and maintaining self-management behaviors following a coronary event can be challenging. The capacity to initiate behavioral changes requires adequate health literacy, which is the ability to understand and use health care information to make appropriate health decisions.

This review will consider studies including individuals at any age who have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease. Studies that used a standardized measure of health literacy with the primary outcome of self-management behaviors or an element of self-management (eg, medication adherence) will be considered for inclusion.

The review will be conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Databases to be searched include CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, APA PsycINFO, Cochrane, Scopus, ScienceDirect, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Google Scholar, and OpenGrey. This will be followed by a forward and backward search of relevant articles. Cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, and mixed methods studies (quantitative component only) will be included. Studies will be screened by 2 independent reviewers and undergo a critical appraisal process. Included studies will be assessed for methodological quality, and data will be extracted using a JBI data extraction tool in the JBI System for the Unified Management, Assessment and Review of Information. The results will be presented as a narrative synthesis and, where possible, a meta-analysis will be conducted. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach will be used to assess the certainty of evidence.

PROSPERO CRD42021257407.