Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr;55(4):1203-1214.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06314-5. Epub 2024 Mar 23.

Continuation of Pediatric Care after Transfer to Adult Care Among Autistic Youth Overlap of Pediatric and Adult Care

Joseph Sirrianni  1 , Christopher Hanks  2 , Steve Rust  1 , Laura C Hart  3   4
Affiliations

Continuation of Pediatric Care after Transfer to Adult Care Among Autistic Youth Overlap of Pediatric and Adult Care

Joseph Sirrianni et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Apr.

Erratum in

Abstract

The transition from pediatric to adult health care is a vulnerable time period for autistic adolescents and young adults (AYA) and for some autistic AYA may include a period of receiving care in both the pediatric and adult health systems. We sought to assess the proportion of autistic AYA who continued to use pediatric health services after their first adult primary care appointment and to identify factors associated with continued pediatric contact. We analyzed electronic medical record (EMR) data from a cohort of autistic AYA seen in a primary-care-based program for autistic people. Using logistic and linear regression, we assessed the relationship between eight patient characteristics and (1) the odds of a patient having ANY pediatric visits after their first adult appointment and (2) the number of pediatric visits among those with at least one pediatric visit. The cohort included 230 autistic AYA, who were mostly white (68%), mostly male (82%), with a mean age of 19.4 years at the time of their last pediatric visit before entering adult care. The majority (n = 149; 65%) had pediatric contact after the first adult visit. Younger age at the time of the first adult visit and more pediatric visits prior to the first adult visit were associated with continued pediatric contact. In this cohort of autistic AYA, most patients had contact with the pediatric system after their first adult primary care appointment.

Keywords: Adolescent; Autism; Health transition; Transition to adult health care; Young adult.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest or competing interests to disclose.

References

    1. Ames, J. L., Massolo, M. L., Davignon, M. N., Qian, Y., & Croen, L. A. (2021). Healthcare service utilization and cost among transition-age youth with autism spectrum disorder and other special healthcare needs. Autism, 25(3), 705–718. - PubMed
    1. Chaudhry, S. R., Keaton, M., & Nasr, S. Z. (2013). Evaluation of a cystic fibrosis transition program from pediatric to adult care. Pediatric Pulmonology, 48(7), 658–665. - PubMed
    1. Cheak-Zamora, N. C., & Teti, M. (2015). You think it’s hard now … it gets much harder for our children: Youth with autism and their caregiver’s perspectives of health care transition services. Autism, 19(8), 992–1001. 10.1177/1362361314558279. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cheak-Zamora, N. C., Farmer, J. E., Mayfield, W. A., Clark, M. J., Marvin, A. R., Law, J. K., & Law, P. A. (2014). Health care transition services for youth with autism spectrum disorders. Rehabilitation Psychology, 59(3), 340. - PubMed
    1. Cheak-Zamora, N. C., Teti, M., Maurer-Batjer, A., & Koegler, E. (2017). Exploration and comparison of adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their caregiver’s perspectives on transitioning to Adult Health Care and Adulthood. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 42(9), 1028–1039. 10.1093/jpepsy/jsx075. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources