The Scope of Research on Transfer and Transition in Young Persons With Chronic Conditions.

Purpose: To determine the amount, type, and evidence level of published literature on transfer and/or transition of young people with chronic conditions (CCs) and to describe the characteristics of such studies.

Methods: Databases including PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched for publications in English, French, Spanish, Dutch, or Swedish. Included publications were related to transfer and/or transition of young persons (10-25 years) with a CC. Grey literature was excluded. Region and country where the study was performed, type of study design, study population (i.e., type of CC, sample size, group), and data collection methods were extracted from the studies.

Results: We included 952 publications for data analysis, of which 790 were quantitative, 128 qualitative, and 34 multimethods or mixed methods studies. Only seven studies were experimental designs, and the majority (n = 341) were categorized as expert opinion or narrative reviews. Endocrinology and neurology were the most common medical specialties involved in the studies, and young persons were the most represented group, while health-care providers were involved the least.

Conclusions: The majority of publications are categorized at the lowest evidence level. Furthermore, evidence is limited to a certain group of medical specialties.