Advances in medical management of asthma, headaches, and fatigue

The 1990s in medicine have been characterized by the development of various clinical guidelines to assist in the diagnosis, classification, and manage ment of common disorders. Among the most frequent presenting complaints of adolescent patients are asthma, headaches, and fatigue. In an era of manage d care and brief clinical encounters, application of standardized guideline s, modified appropriately for adolescents, is likely to improve clinical ou tcomes, including patient and parent satisfaction. In each of these disorde rs, engaging the adolescent patient as a partner in planning and implementi ng management is crucial to success.