Adolescents
- History
- Examination
- Tests
- Red Flags
For the purposes of diagnosis, the assessment of adolescents can usually be handled very much as adults because of their increasingly mature level of understanding and ability to co-operate with diagnostic investigations.
Engaging the patient
If a diagnosis of asthma is confirmed in an adolescent patient, taking time to educate them about their condition is of great importance. There are particular problems in engaging this age group in their asthma management and they are often reluctant to comply with their prescribed regimen. As a result,teenaged asthma patients are at a high risk of uncontrolled disease with subsequent impact on symptoms, risk of exacerbation,quality of life and potential time lost from school or college.
It is an unfortunate fact that a smoking habit frequently starts in during the teenaged years and it is of paramount importance to offer counselling and smoking cessation intervention at every consultation to young smokers.