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Youth with Special Health Care Needs: Transition to Adult Health Care Services

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Abstract

Transition to adult services for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) has emerged as an important event in the life course of individuals with disabilities. Issues that interfere with efficient transition to adult health care include the perspectives of stakeholders, age limits on pediatric service, complexity of health conditions, a lack of experienced healthcare professionals in the adult arena, and health care financing for chronic and complex conditions. The purposes of this study were to develop a definition of successful transition and to identify determinants that were associated with a successful transition. The 2007 Survey of Adult Transition and Health dataset was used to select variables to be considered for defining success and for identifying predictors of success. The results showed that a small percentage of young adults who participated in the 2007 survey had experienced a successful transition from their pediatric care.

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Acknowledgments

The Data Source is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS), Survey of Adult Transition and Health, 2007. All analyses, interpretations, or conclusions reached are attributed to the authors. NCHS and SLAITS are responsible only for the initial data. This article was funded, in part, by Project # T73MC00040 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Public Health Service Act, Section 399BB(e)[1](A), as amended by the Combatting Autism Act of 2006), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services (2010-2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Donald P. Oswald, Donna L. Gilles, Mariel S. Cannady, Donna B. Wenzel, Janet H. Willis & Joann N. Bodurtha

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  1. Donald P. Oswald
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  2. Donna L. Gilles
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  3. Mariel S. Cannady
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  4. Donna B. Wenzel
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Correspondence to Donna L. Gilles.

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Oswald, D.P., Gilles, D.L., Cannady, M.S. et al. Youth with Special Health Care Needs: Transition to Adult Health Care Services. Matern Child Health J 17, 1744–1752 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-012-1192-7

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