A cross-sectional analysis of paediatric urologists' current practices, opinions and areas of perceived importance in the delivery of adolescent & transitional care.

INTRODUCTION

Complex urological anomalies often require continued care as patients reach adulthood. Adequate transition for adolescents with ongoing urological care needs is critical to allow for seamless care in adult hospitals. Studies have shown that this can lead to improved patient and parental satisfaction, and lower utilisation of unplanned inpatient beds and emergency department visits. There is currently no ESPU-EAU consensus on the adequate mechanism and very few individual papers examining the role of urological transition for these patients in a European setting. This study aimed to identify current practice patterns in paediatric urologists providing adolescent/transitional care, to assess their opinions towards formal transition and to look for variations in care. This has implications for long-term patient health and specialist care.

METHODS

An 18-item cross-sectional survey was compiled and pre-approved through the EAU-EWPU and ESPU board offices prior to dissemination to all registered ordinary members affiliated with the ESPU. This was created using a mini-Delphi method through the EWPU research meetings to provide current semi-quantitative data relating to current opinions and attitudes of this cohort.

RESULTS

A total of 172 respondents (55% paediatric general surgery; 45% urology) across 28 countries completed the survey. The majority of respondents were in practice >10 years and spent >80% time in paediatric urology. There was no formal transition process according to 50% respondents and over half of those that did have less than 1/month, with <10% using validated questionnaires. More than two-thirds respondents continued to provide care after transition, as >70% units had no designated corresponding adult service. Furthermore, 93% paediatric believe a formal transition service to be very important, using a multidisciplinary framework. A pareto chart demonstrated 10 specific conditions to be of most interest in transition to adulthood.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to assess the requirements of paediatric urologists for adequate transitional care, however due to the nature of the survey's distribution, this was a non-scientific poll based on a convenience sample of respondents. It is critical that dual-trained or adult-trained urologists with a specific interest in paediatric urology work with current paediatric urologists in a multidisciplinary fashion to facilitate early transition based on the adolescent's developmental and biopsychosocial requirements. National urological and paediatric surgical societies need to make transitional urology a priority. The ESPU and EAU should collaboratively consider developing transitional urology guidelines to allow a framework by which this can occur.