Comfort of general internists and general pediatricians in providing care for young adults with chronic illnesses of childhood

Megumi J. Okumura, Michele Heisler, Matthew M. Davis, Michael D. Cabana, Sonya Demonner, Eve A. Kerr

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

132 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: As an increasing number of patients with chronic conditions of childhood survive to adulthood, experts recommend that young adults with chronic conditions transfer from child-focused to adult-focused primary care. Little, however, is known about how comfortable physicians are caring for this population. OBJECTIVES: To assess the comfort of general internists and general pediatricians in treating young adult patients with chronic illnesses originating in childhood as well as the factors associated with comfort. PARTICIPANTS: In a random sample, 1288 of 2434 eligible US general internists and pediatricians completed a mailed survey (response rate = 53%). METHODS: We measured respondents' comfort level in providing primary care for a patient with sickle cell disease (SCD) or cystic fibrosis (CF). We also measured levels of disease familiarity, training and subspecialty support, as well as individual physician characteristics. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of general internists reported being comfortable as the primary care provider for adults with CF and 32% reported being comfortable providing primary care for adults with SCD, compared with 38% of pediatricians for CF (p<.001) and 35% for SCD (p>0.05). Less than half of general internists felt that their specialty should take primary care responsibility for adult patients with CF and SCD. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of general internists and pediatricians are not comfortable providing primary care for young adults with chronic illnesses of childhood origin, such as CF and SCD. Efforts to increase treatment comfort among providers may help with the transition to adult-focused care for the growing numbers of young adults with complex chronic conditions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1621-1627
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of general internal medicine
Volume23
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adolescents
  • Childhood diseases
  • Children with special health care needs
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Health care transitions
  • Primary care
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Transitional care
  • Young adults

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine

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