Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Adolescents with type 1 diabetes often have poor control causing them significant future danger. An area of particular concern is that of worsening control around the complex time of transition to young adult services from paediatric services. Multiple guidelines and methods to help better this control and transition process are in place.

Aim: This study aims to survey attitudes towards and possible improvements to clinics to aid adherence and attendance; to review whether guidelines on diabetic clinics and transition are being met; and to retrospectively analyse transition.

Methods: Anonymised questionnaires completed with adolescents at paediatric clinics across three different hospitals in Manchester. Questionnaires sent out to young adult cohorts from two different hospitals in Manchester.

Results: With a total population number of 50 in the paediatric cohort and 28 in the young adult cohort, results show that clinics are reaching national guidelines. However, the majority of teenagers are trying to hide their lack of control, and it is felt that broader support is needed to combat this in multiple forms such as texts between clinics, forms before clinics, mentors, social events, and group learning. Teenagers who have had diabetes for a shorter amount of time are statistically significantly more likely to want these methods of increased support. Centres are not meeting the NICE guidelines for transition, and young adults feel that they are met too few times before transition by the adult team.

Conclusion: Both treatment and methods of transitioning need to adapt to adolescents rather than expecting them to react to it. More support may be useful in controlling glycaemic levels, and pilots of these different methods should be trialled. The age at transition is not always correct; there is room for implementing different methods of deciding age of transition. Stricter guidelines should exist to make the transition process more sequential.