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Association of Asthma Self-efficacy to Asthma Control and Quality of Life

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  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Achieving optimal asthma control relies upon several behavioral factors (self-monitoring, treatment adherence) that may be influenced by asthma self-efficacy (ASE).

Purpose

To assess the extent to which levels of ASE are associated with asthma control and asthma-related quality of life in patients with asthma.

Methods

A total of 557 adult patients with documented asthma completed a battery of questionnaires (Asthma Self-Efficacy Scale, ASES; Asthma Control Questionnaire, ACQ; Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, AQLQ) and standard spirometry. Patients also underwent a sociodemographic, medical history, and psychiatric interview. Partial correlations adjusting for covariates were conducted to assess associations between ASES scores and ACQ and AQLQ scores.

Results

Results indicated that ASES scores were negatively correlated with ACQ total score and individual items scores, indicating that higher levels of ASE were associated with improved asthma control, and positively correlated with AQLQ total and subscale scores, indicating that higher levels of ASE were associated with better asthma-related quality of life. All findings were independent of covariates.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that being confident in one’s ability to control asthma symptoms is associated with better asthma control and quality of life. Future studies should assess the direction of the association between self-efficacy and asthma morbidity in order to determine optimal treatment targets.

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Acknowledgments

Funding support for this study was provided by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) (KLL & SLB) and scholarship support from FRSQ (AB, HF) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Counsel of Canada (MJ). The authors thank Guillaume Lacoste, BA, for his invaluable assistance with data collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, Division of Chest Medicine, Research Center, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal (a University of Montreal affiliated hospital), 5400 Gouin West, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, H4J 1C5

    Kim L. Lavoie Ph.D., Anne Bouchard B.Sc., Maryann Joseph B.A., Helene Favreau B.Sc. & Simon L. Bacon Ph.D.

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), P.O. Box 8888, Succursale Center-Ville, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3P8

    Kim L. Lavoie Ph.D., Anne Bouchard B.Sc. & Helene Favreau B.Sc.

  3. Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute (a University of Montreal affiliated hospital), 5000 Belanger, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1T 1C8

    Kim L. Lavoie Ph.D. & Simon L. Bacon Ph.D.

  4. Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Ave., Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1R1

    Maryann Joseph B.A.

  5. Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4

    Tavis S. Campbell Ph.D.

  6. Department of Exercise Science, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Canada, QC H4B 1R6

    Simon L. Bacon Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Kim L. Lavoie Ph.D.
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  2. Anne Bouchard B.Sc.
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  3. Maryann Joseph B.A.
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  4. Tavis S. Campbell Ph.D.
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  5. Helene Favreau B.Sc.
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  6. Simon L. Bacon Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kim L. Lavoie Ph.D..

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Lavoie, K.L., Bouchard, A., Joseph, M. et al. Association of Asthma Self-efficacy to Asthma Control and Quality of Life. ann. behav. med. 36, 100–106 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9053-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9053-8

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