title: Current status of transition preparation among youth with special needs in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine current US performance on transition from pediatric to adult health care and discuss strategies for improvement.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 2009-2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs is a nationally representative sample with 17 114 parent respondents who have youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) ages 12 and 18. They are asked about transition to an adult provider, changing health care needs, increasing responsibility for health care needs, and maintaining insurance coverage. We analyzed the association of selected characteristics with successful transition preparation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 40% of YSHCN meet the national transition core outcome. Several factors are associated with transition preparation, including female gender; younger age; white race; non-Hispanic ethnicity; income ≥400% of poverty; little or no impact of condition on activities; having a condition other than an emotional, behavioral, or developmental condition; having a medical home; and being privately insured.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most YSHCN are not receiving needed transition preparation. Although most providers are encouraging YSHCN to assume responsibility for their own health, far fewer are discussing transfer to an adult provider and insurance continuity. Although changes in sample design limit trend analysis, there have been no discernible improvements since this transition outcome was measured in the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. The 2011 release of the American Academy of Pediatrics/American Academy of Family Physicians/American College of Physicians clinical recommendations on transition, new transition tools, and the spread of medical home should stimulate future improvements in transition performance.
authors.affiliation: The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health, Washington, DC 20006, USA. mmcmanus@thenationalalliance.org
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.forename: Lauren R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Pollack
authors.forename: W Carl
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Cooley
authors.forename: Jeanne W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lotstein
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Strickland
authors.forename: Marie Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Mann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D060305:Transition to Adult Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States
keywords: adolescent; children with disabilities; patient-centered care; pediatric transition to adult care; primary health care; self-management; special health care needs