Health outcomes of type 1 transition clinic patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Comparing health outcomes between those who did and did not attend type 1 diabetes specialist transition services in adolescence and young adulthood at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT)
IRAS ID
233045
Contact name
Roger Parslow
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 3 days
Research summary
This study will compare health outcomes for type 1 diabetes patients between those who did and did not attend transitional services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT). Type 1 diabetes transition services at the LTHT include a transition clinic for 16 to 19 year olds and a young adult clinic for 19 to 25 year olds. These transition services were set up to help adolescents and young people transfer between paediatric to adult health services. There is expert consensus which suggests that neither paediatric nor adult services can fully support the developmental and psychosocial needs of adolescents and young people. Transition services offer specialised care to prepare adolescents and young people for adult services by encouraging independence and learning self-management skills. Additional support can be provided within these services for age-specific issues such as going to university, entering employment and relationships.
Although some studies suggest that transition services may increase rates of appointment attendances in adult services, which is important in reducing the risk of negative long-term health outcomes, these studies often have short-term follow-up (less than 2 years) and do not examine any demographic differences. A&E, inpatient and mental health outcomes have also rarely been assessed. By linking routinely collected demographic and clinical data from the LTHT clinical information system for patients at the paediatric diabetes and transition clinics to hospital episode statistics (HES) data from NHS Digital, we aim to assess whether the transition services have been effective in increasing outpatient appointment attendances and reducing negative health outcomes (i.e. A&E attendances, inpatient and mental health admissions), whilst patients are still attending the paediatric care and after they have transferred into adult care. Analysis by demographic groups will discover whether certain groups have benefited more from attending the transition services during and after the transition period (16 to 25).
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0410
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jun 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion