Shared decision-making for people with asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the airways. It is usually characterised by chronic inflammation of the airways, which causes wheeze, shortness of breath, chest tightness, cough and variable airflow limitation (GINA 2016). Symptoms vary significantly in their nature, frequency and severity both within and between individuals with a diagnosis of asthma. Day-to-day symptoms often vary according to the presence of external stimuli (e.g. exercise, allergens), and people with asthma can also experience flare-ups or 'exacerbations' which are associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide (GINA 2016; Global Asthma Network 2014; NRAD 2014). The long-term goals of asthma management are to maintain control of symptoms and to minimise the risk of exacerbations, airflow limitation and treatment side-effects (GINA 2016). Educating people to self-manage their asthma is widely recognised as integral to achieving these goals both for adults (Gibson 2002) and children (Guevara 2003).