Ready for Transfer to Adult Care? A Triadic Evaluation of Transition Readiness in Adolescents With Congenital Heart Disease and Their Parents.
Åsa Burström, Mariela Acuña Mora, Maria Öjmyr-Joelsson and 7 others
PMID 31342815WHAT IT FOUND
Teenagers with congenital heart disease rated themselves more ready for adult-care transfer than their parents did.
Readiness rose with age and linked to empowerment and less threatening illness views. Age alone should not decide transfer timing.
Key findings
01Adolescents rated overall readiness 2.7, higher than mothers' and fathers' ratings of 2.4.
02Readiness was associated with older age, higher empowerment, a less threatening illness perception, and higher parent readiness ratings.
03Adolescents reported lower responsibility for scheduling specialist care and ordering refills, while parents were seen as highly involved in appointments, labs, and phone contact.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 34% of eligible adolescents participated, and the analysis used 157 complete adolescent-mother-father triads, so results may reflect families who chose to respond. The cross-sectional design cannot show whether readiness causes better transition or whether transfer timing changes outcomes. The readiness questionnaire was modified for congenital heart disease and is not widely used; many medication and lab items were not applicable because only 23% of participants took medication. The study did not correct for multiple testing and is exploratory. Exclusions of syndromes affecting cognition, non-Swedish speakers, and transplant patients limit generalisability; additional congenital conditions and other treatments were not considered.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding was from the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation and Forte, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that age alone can decide when an adolescent with congenital heart disease should transfer to adult care. The study was cross-sectional, did not test a transfer intervention, and readiness was linked to empowerment, illness perception, and family ratings as well as age.