Getting Ready to Leave: Transition Readiness in Adolescent Kidney Transplant Recipients

Objective To develop a measure of transition readiness and assess factors associated with perceived readiness for transition of healthcare responsibility and transfer among adolescent kidney transplant recipients. Methods The Readiness for Transition Questionnaire (RTQ-teen; RTQ-parent) was created to assess overall transition readiness, adolescent healthcare behavior, and familial involvement in healthcare. Participants were 48 adolescent kidney transplant recipients ages 15–21 years. Thirty-two (66.7%) of the ado-lescents ’ caregivers also participated. Adolescents completed the RTQ-teen, as well as self-reported measures of adherence and barriers to adherence. Parents completed the RTQ-parent. Results The RTQ showed good internal consistency, inter rater reliability, and demonstrated construct validity. Increased adolescent re-sponsibility and decreased parental involvement predicted higher transition readiness. Additionally, greater adolescent adherence factors predicted greater transition readiness. Conclusions The preliminary psycho-metrics of the RTQ appear to be supported. Additional research should evaluate healthcare transition pro-gramming to identify clinical components related to improved transition readiness, adolescent responsibility, and medical outcomes. Key words adolescent; healthcare responsibility; transition; transplant