[Asthma management: what impact does knowing about asthma have on the ability of patients to self-manage the disease?].
Knowledge about asthma is frequently assumed to be a prerequisite for optimal asthma management. But the relevance of asthma knowledge for implementing changes of behaviour in the everyday life of patients, their self-management, compliance and coping remains unclear. Taken by itself, knowledge about asthma does not have a direct impact on practical skills of disease management, but it has an indirect effect on it through patients' ability to adapt to the disease.. In order to impart knowledge it can be helpful to consider patients} experiences, their view of illness and strategies of coping. In some cases using a questionnaire about patients' knowledge of asthma was helpful to identify those patients who have little such specific knowledge. They could then be channelled into specific interventions, for example asthma education programs.
de Vries
U
U
Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation, Universität Bremen, Grazer Strasse 6, 28359 Bremen. udevries@uni-bremen.de
Petermann
F
F
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires