Evaluation of the TRxANSITION Index–Parent Version for Assessment of Readiness to Transition to Adult Care Among Youth with Chronic Conditions

Abstract

PurposeTo develop and evaluate a parent-proxy measure of youth HCT readiness: the TRxANSITION Index–Parent Version. Design and methodsWe recruited parents (77% female) and youth (ages 12 to 25) to complete transition readiness measures during outpatient clinic visits. The TRxANSITION Index—Parent Version contains two domains: the Parent Knowledge Domain assessing a parent's knowledge of their youth's illness, and the Parent Proxy Domain, which provides a parental perspective regarding a youth's transition readiness skills. We evaluated the TRxANSITION Index – Parent Version for differences between parent and youth reports of HCT readiness, associations between parent's score and youth's characteristics, and item-category, item-sub-index, and sub-index category correlations. ResultsData from 93 parents-youth dyads were analyzed. Parents scored significantly higher than youth in the Parent Knowledge Domain and similarly in the Parent Proxy Domain. Parents of daughters had significantly higher scores in the Parent Knowledge Domain than parents of sons and reported similar scores to Parents of sons in the Parent Proxy Domain. Only the self-management sub-index significantly correlated with youth's age. The sub-index-domain, item-sub-index, and item-domain correlations assessed were generally large in magnitude (r > 0.5). ConclusionsThe TRxANSITION Index–Parent Version shows promise as a means of assessing parent knowledge of a youth's illness and may provide an accurate proxy assessment of a youth HCT readiness skills. Practice implicationsObtaining parental perspective on a youth's HCT readiness may provide useful clinical information during the transition process.