Transition Readiness of Pediatric Sickle Cell Patients to Adult Clinic in a Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

Background: Successfully navigating the transition process has received little attention, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This study assessed the transition readiness of pediatric sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi-Ghana. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a purposive sampling technique to recruit adolescents who were scheduled to be transitioned from the Pediatric to the Adult SCD Clinic at KATH. Two transition assessment tools were adopted and modified to suit our local setting. Findings: Majority of the patients (90%) scored above median mark for the items under the transition self-care importance and confidence and over 50% for most of the items under the disease knowledge and appointment keeping domains. The internal consistencies of the items were over 70% for all the three domains: disease knowledge, medication management, and appointment keeping. In multivariable regression models, older age, female gender, and higher education were associated with higher scores in all the three domains. Also, the sickle cell disease-SS (SCD-SS) status was associated with higher scores in disease knowledge and appointment keeping. Patients staying with both parents were associated with higher scores for the domains but only appointment keeping was statistically significant. Staying with other relations was associated with a lower score for appointment keeping and had significant association for medication management. Conclusion: The study revealed a high transition readiness among pediatric patients. In general, the patients had high confidence transitioning to an adult clinic and the ability to manage their own healthcare. However, patients were hesitant speaking about their SCD status. Staying with both parents was significantly associated with higher scores for appointment keeping. Also, staying with other relations significantly reduced the scores for medication management. We recommend setting up of an adolescent sickle cell support group to help reduce stigmatization and improve health outcomes.