Transition to adult care: Exploring factors associated with transition readiness among adolescents and young people in adolescent ART clinics in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Transition readiness refers to a client who knows about his/her illness and oriented towards future goals and hopes, shows skills needed to negotiate healthcare, and can assume responsibility for his/ her treatment, and participate in decision-making that ensures uninterrupted care during and after the care transition to adult HIV care. There is a paucity of research on effective transition strategies. This study explored factors associated with adolescent readiness for the transition into adult care in Uganda. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 786 adolescents, and young people living with HIV randomly selected from 9 antiretroviral therapy clinics, utilizing a structured questionnaire. The readiness level was determined using a pre-existing scale from the Ministry of Health, and adolescents were categorized as ready or not ready for the transition. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 786 adolescents were included in this study. The mean age of participants was 17.48 years (SD = 4). The majority of the participants, 484 (61.6%), were females. Most of the participants, 363 (46.2%), had no education. The majority of the participants, 549 (69.8%), were on first-line treatment. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that readiness to transition into adult care remained significantly associated with having acquired a tertiary education (AOR 4.535, 95% CI 1.243–16.546, P = 0.022), trusting peer educators for HIV treatment (AOR 16.222, 95% CI 1.835–143.412, P = 0.012), having received counselling on transition to adult services (AOR 2.349, 95% CI 1.004–5.495, P = 0.049), having visited an adult clinic to prepare for transition (AOR 6.616, 95% CI 2.435–17.987, P = < 0.001) and being satisfied with the transition process in general (AOR 0.213, 95% CI 0.069–0.658, P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: The perceived readiness to transition care among young adults was low. A series of individual, social and health system and services factors may determine successful transition readiness among adolescents in Uganda. Transition readiness may be enhanced by strengthening the implementation of age-appropriate and individualized case management transition at all sites while creating supportive family, peer, and healthcare environments.