Youths' Experiences of Transition from Pediatric to Adult Care: An Updated Qualitative Metasynthesis.
Maureen Varty, Barbara Speller-Brown, Leslie Phillips and 1 others
PMID 32966960WHAT IT FOUND
Young adults with chronic illness described transition as often abrupt and poorly prepared.
They wanted direct communication, disease knowledge, self-management practice, parent support, joint pediatric-adult visits, and peers who had made the move.
Key findings
01AYAs with chronic disease described seven transition themes, including developing readiness, evolving parent and youth roles, barriers, lacking readiness, and recommendations for improvement.
02AYAs reported that transition was often discussed only briefly or not at all, and this lack of preparation was associated with uncertainty, anxiety, fear, sadness, and feeling abandoned.
03AYAs wanted age-relevant information and wanted providers to address them directly.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The synthesis reports AYAs' experiences and recommendations, not evidence that a transition programme changes health outcomes or engagement. Parent and healthcare provider perspectives were not included, although both are important for designing feasible transition processes. Most included studies were from North America and Europe, so cultural differences in transition expectations may not be represented. The search was developed and conducted mainly by the first author, with librarian confirmation rather than independent librarian-led searching. Many primary studies did not report enough methodological detail to fully judge recruitment, bias protection, researcher-participant relationship, ethics, or analysis rigor.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that these transition practices improve health outcomes. The paper synthesizes AYAs' experiences and recommendations from qualitative studies, not tested interventions.