Clinical Epidemiology (Jun 2020)
Methods for Measuring the Time of Transfer from Pediatric to Adult Care for Chronic Conditions Using Administrative Data: A Scoping Review
Abstract
Rayzel Shulman,1,2 Eyal Cohen,3 Eric I Benchimol,4 Meranda Nakhla5,6 1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; 2Sickkids Research Institute, Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada; 3Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; 4Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 5Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada; 6Center of Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, CanadaCorrespondence: Meranda NakhlaCenter of Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, 5252 de Maisonneuve Blvd, W, 3rd Floor, Montreal, QC H4A 3S5, CanadaTel +1-514-412-4400 Ext 23698Email [email protected]: To describe methods used to identify the timing of transfer from pediatric to adult care within health administrative data and to identify the advantages and limitations of each method to guide future research.Study Design and Settings: We conducted a scoping review to identify studies, summarized challenges of identifying the timing of transfer, and proposed methodological approaches for each.Results: Studies use the following approaches to capture individuals who transfer from pediatric to adult care by 1) defining the timing of transfer by the last pediatric and first adult care visit last and 2) defining transfer to adult care based on a specific age.Conclusion: There are important limitations of administrative data that must be recognized in designing studies examining the transfer to adult care.Keywords: transfer to adult care, administrative data, chronic disease
