Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: There has been a joint transition clinic in our tertiary centre for over 10 years. We have recently undertaken a questionnaire based review of this service.

Methodology: The questionnaire comprised two components: what the young adults understood about their condition and the medications they were currently taking using both a written response and a score of 0–10 for how confident they felt in this. They were also asked to complete a concerns checklist of issues such as body image, fertility issues and emotional wellbeing.

Results: Thirty-nine questionnaires were completed (males 13, females 26) by patients with a variety of endocrine disorders. The mean age was 16.8 years (Range 13.0–20.4). There was a wide range in both the level of understanding and confidence in managing their condition. Thirteen (33%) felt they fully understood their condition, 18 (46%) were completely confident about managing their medication. Of the 13 (33%) that understood their condition 12 (30%) were completely confident about managing their medication. The confidence in managing their condition did not depend on the endocrine condition or correlate with the written response on the questionnaire. The most common causes for anxiety were fertility issues (25%), growth and development (17%), medications (20%), hormonal issues (17%), medical condition (13%), sexual issues (13%) and educational/employment issues (13%).

Conclusion: Use of a questionnaire has enabled us to identify gaps in the knowledge and understanding of our young adults and focus their consultation on issues most important to them. Adolescents have a range of capabilities regarding the management of their condition and a number of concerns regarding their future health and wellbeing which should be addressed at the appropriate time.