Frontiers in Pediatrics (Mar 2022)

Instruments Measuring Self-Care in Children and Young Adults With Chronic Conditions: A Systematic Review

  • Valentina Biagioli,
  • Giuseppina Spitaletta,
  • Valeria Kania,
  • Rachele Mascolo,
  • Orsola Gawronski,
  • Annachiara Liburdi,
  • Giulia Manzi,
  • Michele Salata,
  • Ercole Vellone,
  • Emanuela Tiozzo,
  • Immacolata Dall’Oglio

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.832453
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Children and young adults (CYAs) with chronic conditions need to engage in self-care to improve their quality of life. This study aimed to retrieve the literature on instruments to assess self-care in CYAs living with chronic conditions and evaluate the psychometric proprieties of the instruments retrieved. A systematic literature review was conducted on six databases to identify peer-reviewed papers that described or used an evaluation instrument of self-care in CYAs with chronic conditions. Twenty-three articles describing 11 instruments of self-care were identified. Five instruments (45.45%) were developed for specific diseases, while six (54.54%) for various chronic illnesses. Most of the instruments were focused on treatment adherence within self-care maintenance (i.e., behaviors to maintain illness stability), excluding the monitoring of clinical parameters or the management of exacerbations. This review provides an overview of available instruments that measure self-care in CYAs with chronic conditions, which health professionals could use for patient education.

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