Minority of teens receive health care transition planning

A minority of adolescents with diagnosed mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs) receive recommended health care transition planning, according to research published in the Aug. 27 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Rebecca T. Leeb, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed pooled, parent-reported data from the 2016 and 2017 National Survey of Children's Health comparing adolescents aged 12 to 17 years with and without MBDDs on a composite measure and specific indicators of recommended health care transition planning.

The researchers found that about 15 percent of adolescents received recommended health care transition planning: 15.8 and 14.2 percent of those with and without MBDDs, respectively. Compared with those without MBDDs, adolescents with anxiety and depression were 36 and 69 percent, respectively, more likely to receive recommended health care transition planning after adjustment for age, while those with autism spectrum disorder and developmental delay were 35 and 25 percent, respectively, less likely to receive such transition planning. Among adolescents with MBDDs receiving current treatment, fewer than 20 percent met the transition measure.

"All adolescents, especially those with MBDDs, could benefit from receiving earlier transition planning as recommended," the authors write. "Those with MBDDs might also benefit from condition-specific transition protocols with extended transition timelines, modified transition goals, and increased opportunities for comanagement between pediatric and adult primary care providers."