Study	Reason for exclusion
Apps 2008	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Benzo 2013	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Bischoff 2011	This was not a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Bischoff 2013	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Bosch 2007	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Botvinikova 2010	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Bourbeau 2003	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention, and educational intervention was too long (weekly visits over a 2‐month period).
Bucknall 2012	Educational intervention was too long (4× 40‐minute individual training sessions).
Cave 2010	Intervention did not involve an action plan.
Chavannes 2009	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Choi 2014	This was not a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Chuang 2011	Educational intervention was too long (4 weekly telephone sessions 20 minutes each).
Coultas 2012	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Davies 2014	This was not a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Dhein 2003	This was not a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Effing 2009	Control group was not given usual care. Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Efraimsson 2008	Educational intervention was too long (2× 1 hour sessions).
Fan 2012	Educational intervention was too long (4 weekly 90‐minute individual sessions).
Hesselink 2004	Study participants included those with a diagnosis of asthma or COPD. Intervention did not include an action plan.
Jarab 2012	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Khdour 2009	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Kiser 2012	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Lawlor 2007	This was not a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Lenferink 2013	Educational intervention was too long (4× 2.5‐hour sessions).
Maltais 2008	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention. Control group was not given usual care.
Miller 2010	Educational intervention was too long (4× 40‐minute individual sessions).
Monninkhof 2003	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Newman 1995	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Parenteau 2003	This was not a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Rea 2004	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Roberts 2007	This was not a randomised controlled trial (RCT). This was a pilot study of the acceptability of a pictorial action plan.
Rowett 2005	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Sedeno 2006	Educational intervention was too long (8 sessions exceeding 1 hour).
Sedeno 2009	Citation to study was already excluded; educational sessions exceeded 1 hour.
Siddique 2012	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Song 2014	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Sridhar 2008	Action plan was part of a broader self‐management intervention.
Uijen 2012	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Wakabayashi 2006	Intervention did not include an action plan.
Wittmann 2007	Control group was not given usual care. Educational intervention was too long (4× 1.5‐hour sessions).
Worth 2004	It was not possible to extract outcome data regarding action plan (AP) only.
Yu 2014	Intervention did not include an action plan.