Impact of a generic transition-oriented patient education program on adolescents’ patient-reported outcomes

Abstract

Aim of the study was to test the impact of a generic transition-oriented patient education program on adolescents’ patient-reported outcomes. We conducted a controlled trial comparing participants of a standardized transition workshops with treatment as usual in 274 adolescents (16.8 mean age, SD=1.76) diagnosed with type I diabetes (DM), cystic fibrosis (CF) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A two-day transition workshop was carried out at 12 sites in Germany, focusing on adjustment to adult care settings, organization of future disease management, career choices and partnership. Study outcomes were health-related transition competence, self-efficacy, satisfaction with care, patient activation and QoL. Measures were assessed at baseline and six-month follow-up. Repeated-measurement covariance analysis using age as a covariate showed that the transition workshop significantly affected transition competence, self-efficacy and satisfaction with school care six months post intervention. The intervention did not significantly affect patient activation and QoL. However, post-hoc analysis suggested different effects across conditions with a higher impact in patients with IBD in respect to quality of life. The program has a positive effect on the competence of adolescents in the transition phase, in particular in patients with limited workshop experience. The study demonstrates that an intervention can be effective in preparing adolescents with chronic conditions for transitions.