This study demonstrates that asthma diaries can be a
useful tool in aiding in-depth and comprehensive understanding
about uncontrolled asthma and its management.
Having recognized the value, nurses need to encourage
adolescents to keep the asthma diaries as a means to monitor
symptoms, quality of life and treatment adherence. Adolescents
are more likely to keep their diaries and consider it less
of a burden when they receive timely feedback from clinicians
(National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute, & Blood
Institute, 2007). Asthma diaries can potentially facilitate
constructive communications between adolescent patients
and their nurses. Specific understanding about an individual's
characteristic symptom manifestations and quality of
life gleaned from the asthma diary can allow nurses or other
clinicians to efficiently assess the impact of asthma and customize their intervention efforts to the individual to
adequately address the identified issues. As such, the tailored
communications between adolescents and clinicians can lead
to mutually agreed upon asthma management plans with
which the adolescents are more likely to adhere.