Healthcare-transition risk assessment for emerging adults with diabetes type 1

AIM: To identify potential risk indicators for emerging adults transitioning to adult health care. BACKGROUND: Without maturity, independence, knowledge and motivation to manage their diabetes and successfully transition to adult healthcare, a proportion of emerging adults will struggle, leaving themselves vulnerable to diabetes-related complications. METHODS: Fifty-three emerging adults (aged 17 - 19 years) recently transitioned from pediatric to adult healthcare were recruited. Data included demographic, glycated haemoglobin, Body Mass Index, base-line and 12-month data from four psychosocial measures: Problem Areas in Diabetes, Diabetes Empowerment Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and dichotomous questions from the Eating Attitude Test. Missed appointments were obtained from hospital records. RESULTS: No significant differences in age, gender, BMI and individual survey scales between three appointment groups. Median HbA1c in the Sat-1 group was 7% (53 mmol/mol), compared with 8.6% (70 mmol/mol) and 8.5% (69 mmol/mol) respectively in the Sat-2 and Unsatisfactory groups. A ROC curve analysis and classification tree analysis identified optimal threshold values for the survey scales and their linear combinations. These values were used to make comparisons across two appointment and three HbA1c status groups. The unsatisfactory appointment group was characterised by statistically higher proportions of participants with (1) a low score for empowerment alone or in combination (less) with perceived problems and (2) statistically higher perceived problems and anxiety scores. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that diabetes self-care confidence, less perception of diabetes as a problem, could be a useful indicator of future appointment attendance. Similarly, depression levels could be a useful predictor of better metabolic control following transition. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study offers an innovative use of existing metrics to identify at-risk emerging adults in a busy clinic. Rather than the emphasis being solely on blood glucose control, it may be time to consider including psychosocial measures to identify at-risk individuals at the first appointment in adult healthcare.

Family responsibility dynamics for young adults in transition to adult health care

Aim: To explore family responsibility dynamics, metabolic control, clinic attendance, and emergency admissions when young adults (YA) with type 1 diabetes transition to an adult hospital. Method: A longitudinal mixed method design with two study groups (parents, n = 28;YA intervention group, n = 23) and a YA comparison group (n = 20). Sample recruited from an outpatient diabetes centre. Demographic, clinic attendance, emergency admissions, biodata, and the Diabetes Family Responsibility Questionnaire (DFRQ) were completed on entry and sixmonths later as part of an 18-month trial of a diabetes transition coordinator (DTC). The selfreport DFRQ were analyzed using derived parent-child dyadic variables to explore differences at baseline and end of study using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The relationship between metabolic control and the DFRQ patterns was explored using Spearman’s rho. Results: On completion of the study, the change in HBA1Cfor both adolescent groups was not significant but was less than ideal for 25% of adolescents in the study. The YA intervention group had significantly fewer missed appointments between them compared to the comparison group. The DFRQ indicated that the derived parent-child dyadic variable of task-discordance increased during the study. Conclusion: The clinically relevant diabetes-task dissonance between parents and young adults offers a challenge and a diagnostic opportunity for diabetes educators.