Making the transition from pediatric to adult endocrinology services.

摘要

Transition of care is defined as the "planned purposeful movement of adolescents from child-centered to adult-oriented care," in a "process that attends to the medical, psychological, and education needs of young people as they transfer to adult-oriented care." The transition of adolescent care is a major medical issue-each year there are approximately 500,000 youth in the US with special health-care needs who turn 18 years old and require transition from pediatric to adult care. This transition is the ultimate, and completely predictable, goal of pediatric chronic care and should involve thoughtful preparation and not be simply the transfer of care from one physician to another. Nonetheless, there are relatively few studies of the transition process, and a review of the transition literature concludes that "a prominent theme in the literature is the lack of empiric, evidence-based data regarding the best practices for transition of care "