Factors influencing the integration of self-management in daily life routines in chronic conditions: a scoping review of qualitative evidence

Objective Self-management of chronic diseases is regarded as dynamic experience which is always evolving and that requires constant adjustment. As unexpected and new shifts in diseases occur, patients tend to abandon acquired behaviours calling into question their sustainability over time. Developing a daily self-management routine as a response to lifestyle changes is considered to facilitate self-management performance. However, fitting self-management recommendations in one’s daily life activities is a constant challenge. In this review, we describe the performance of self-management routines within daily settings in people living with chronic conditions with the aim of identifying factors that challenge its integration in daily life. Design Scoping review. Data sources We searched PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL and PsycINFO on February 2022. Eligibility criteria We included qualitative studies on self-management experience, in English, with adult participants, original and peer-reviewed, and depicting the performance of self-management activities in one’s own environment. Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts. After agreement, one reviewer screened the full text of relevant articles and extracted the data. The data were synthesised and analysed thematically. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist was used for reporting the steps. Results Twenty-two studies were included. The thematic analysis brought up two overreaching themes. The first one is the Environment support with three subthemes: family and cultural norms; health professionals and guiding communication; and society and disease perceptions. The second theme is comprehension gap with two subthemes: reading the body and applying information. Conclusions The integration of self-management requirements in a daily routine is affected by the patients’ inability to apply disease knowledge in different context and by the challenge of understanding body symptoms and predicting body reactions in advance.