Understanding what asthma plans mean: a linguistic analysis of terminology used in published texts

Ring, Nicola; Pinnock, Hilary; Wilson, Caroline; Hoskins, Gaylor; Jepson, Ruth; Wyke, Sally; Sheikh, Aziz

Abstract

Aim: To identify from the literature what terms are used for ‘asthma plans’, with what meaning, and in what context(s).
Methods: Linguistic analysis of a selected body of asthma literature from 1989-2009.
Results: A wide range of asthma plan terminology was evident, with terms such as ‘action plans’, ‘self-management plans’ and ‘treatment
plans’ being applied inconsistently and synonymously. For individual patients the term ‘asthma plan’ can describe a clinically-determined
list of prescribed medication, an agreed plan to guide self-management of changing symptoms, or a more holistic ‘living with asthma’ plan. In some contexts the term ‘asthma plan’ was also used to describe an organisational system of care, which causes further ambiguity.
Conclusions: Within the literature, a plethora of terms is used inconsistently and with varied meaning. This is a potential, but previously unrecognised, barrier to asthma plan implementation. A taxonomy of asthma plans and a standardised definitions of terms is required.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 25, 2010
• Online Publication Date: Mar 28, 2011
• Publication Date: Mar 28, 2011
• Deposit Date: Aug 7, 2017
• Journal: Primary Care Respiratory Journal
• Print ISSN: 1471-4418
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-1534
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 170-177
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2011.00012
• Keywords: Asthma, action plans, self-management plans, terminology, meaning, linguistic analysis,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/973082