With chronic diseases, the responsibility for care transfers to adult clinics at some point. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common persistent rheumatic condition in children. A successful transition requires sufficient self-management skills to manage one´s chronic condition and all the tasks involved. In this study, we evaluated transition readiness in Finnish patients with JIA. We aimed to find practical tools to support a successful transition and to study the possible consequences of an unsuccessful transition. The usefulness of a specific questionnaire, which was administered to 83 JIA patients, was evaluated in this study. We also gathered information from their first adult clinic visit to assess the success of their transition and its relation to disease activity. In 55 (71%) patients, the transition was estimated to be successful. We were able to determine a cut-off score in the questionnaire for a successful transition: the best estimate for a successful transition is when the score is 24 or more. At the first adult clinic visit, an unsuccessful transition was evident in its effect on disease outcome. If the transition was defined as successful, the DAS28 was better. We found the questionnaire to be a useful tool for evaluating transition readiness. Determination of a successful transition helped us identify those adolescents who needed more profound support to improve their self-management skills and thus enhance their transition process. An unsuccessful transition was shown to negatively impact on disease outcomes.

中文翻译：

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芬兰青少年特发性关节炎患者的过渡准备情况

对于慢性病，护理责任有时会转移到成人诊所。幼年特发性关节炎（JIA）是儿童中最常见的持续性风湿病。成功的过渡需要足够的自我管理技能来管理自己的慢性病和所有涉及的任务。在这项研究中，我们评估了芬兰幼年特发性关节炎患者的过渡准备情况。我们的目标是找到实用的工具来支持成功的转型，并研究不成功的转型可能产生的后果。本研究评估了对 83 名幼年特发性关节炎患者进行的特定调查问卷的有用性。我们还收集了他们第一次成人诊所就诊的信息，以评估他们的转变是否成功及其与疾病活动的关系。在 55 名 (71%) 患者中，估计过渡是成功的。我们能够在问卷中确定成功过渡的截止分数：成功过渡的最佳估计是分数为 24 或更高。在第一次成人临床就诊时，不成功的转变对疾病结果的影响显而易见。如果过渡被定义为成功，那么 DAS28 会更好。我们发现调查问卷是评估过渡准备情况的有用工具。成功过渡的确定有助于我们确定那些需要更深入支持的青少年，以提高他们的自我管理技能，从而加强他们的过渡过程。研究表明，不成功的转变会对疾病结果产生负面影响。