Youth report of healthcare transition counseling and autonomy support from their rheumatologist

Background: to increase understanding of the healthcare transition (hct) process for young people living with juvenile idopathic arthritis (jia) by examining: 1) the extent to which youth report discussing hct topics with their rheumatologist and 2) the association between youth perceptions of autonomy support from their rheumatologist and hct discussions.methods: data are from an online survey of youth in the united states with rheumatologic conditions (n= 134). hct discussion was measured by 4 questions from the national survey of children with special health care needs. youth perception of autonomy support was measured using a validated 6-item scale.results: one third of the youth (33.7%) reported talking to their rheumatologist about transferring to adult medicine. less than half (40.8%) of respondents talked with their rheumatologist about adult healthcare needs,and less than a quarter (22.0%) discussed acquiring health insurance as an adult. nearly two-thirds of respondents (62.7%) reported that their rheumatologist usually/always encourages self-care responsibility. multivariate analyses revealed significant associations between rheumatologist support for youth autonomy and hct counseling.conclusion: the low frequency of hct counseling reported indicates a continuing need to increase awareness among rheumatologist in the usa. the strong associations between rheumatologist's support for youth autonomy and hct counseling suggest that developmentally in-tune providers may deliver the best guidance about transition planning for youth living with arthritis. © 2012 wells et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.