UCLA

Background

Adolescents and young adults with asthma face increased risks during the health care transition (HCT) from pediatric to adult care. Despite guidelines advocating for more HCT preparedness, this does not consistently occur in clinical practice. The rates of exposure to transition preparation in adolescents with asthma are unknown.

Objectives

Our goal was to understand the rates of HCT exposure among adolescents with asthma in the United States, along with predictive characteristics associated with receiving HCT exposure, as determined by using data from a nationally representative survey.

Methods

We studied adolescents aged 12 to 17 years with asthma in the 2020-2021 National Survey of Children's Health data set. We explored associations between sociodemographic, health-related, and provider practice-related variables and HCT exposure through univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Only 19% of adolescents with asthma from this cohort met criteria indicating that they had received HCT exposure. In our multivariable analysis, being older, being female, having a provider actively work with the child to make positive choices about health, having a written care plan addressing transition, having routine preventive care visits, and having a caregiver who has someone with whom to discuss health insurance into adulthood were associated with higher odds of HCT exposure. Hispanic ethnicity, lack of insurance, and residence in a metropolitan area were associated with lower odds of receiving preparation for transitional care but were not significant in the multivariable model.

Conclusions

Our findings underscore the need to improve transitional care preparation for adolescents with asthma, with attention needed to address disparities based on sociodemographic factors, including health care access.