More than half of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who transferred to an adult rheumatologist had inadequate follow-up for their disease 2 years after being transferred, judging from results of a Canadian study.
“Every effort should be made to ensure that young adults with JIA have timely access to a rheumatologist in the event of a disease flare, in order to minimize their disease burden,” Dr. Elizabeth M. Hazel, an adult rheumatologist at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal and associates wrote.
The researchers conducted a systematic chart review of 100 patients with JIA who attended their final JIA clinic appointment at Montreal Children's Hospital between 1992 and 2005 when they were aged 17 years or older. More than two-thirds of the patients (68%) were female, and the mean age of disease onset was 9.84 years (Pediatr. Rheumatol. 2010 Jan. 11 [doi:10.1186/1546-0096-8-2]).
A patient was deemed to have had an unsuccessful transfer if he or she “never made contact with the identified adult rheumatologist or was lost to follow-up at 2 years following transfer.”
Of the 100 patients, 52 (52%) met the criteria for unsuccessful transfer from pediatric to adult care. Of these, 17 (33%) did not make initial contact with the appointed adult rheumatologist and 35 (67%) were lost to follow-up at 2 years.
“I was very surprised that more than half of the patients were lost to follow-up,” Dr. Hazel commented in an interview.
She and her associates reported having no relevant conflicts to disclose.