Awareness and Perceived Need for Transitional Care in Childhood-Onset Cardiomyopathy Among Adult Cardiologists: A Nationwide Survey in Japan.

BACKGROUND

Transitional care is essential for patients with childhood-onset chronic diseases to ensure age-appropriate lifelong care. In contrast to congenital heart disease (CHD), for which transition/transfer systems have been relatively well established, childhood-onset cardiomyopathy (ChO-CM) lacks an established transitional care system in Japan. Our previous nationwide survey clarified the pediatric cardiologists' perspective, but awareness of and perceived need for transitional care among adult cardiologists have remained unclear. Therefore, this study investigated adult cardiologists' awareness of and perceived need for transitional care for ChO-CM.

METHODS AND

RESULTS

A nationwide questionnaire survey was conducted in 1,347 cardiovascular departments in Japan to examine adult cardiologists' awareness of and perceived need for transitional care for ChO-CM. Valid responses were obtained from 332 departments. Among the respondents, 157 (47.3%) were aware of transitional care, whereas 200 (60.2%) answered that transitional care was necessary for all CM cases. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that experience in treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) was independently associated with both awareness of transitional care and perceived need for it.

CONCLUSIONS

Awareness of transitional care for ChO-CM among adult cardiologists in Japan remains limited. However, most respondents recognized the need for transitional care. Clinical experience with HCM may promote recognition of the importance of transitional care. These findings highlight the need to develop structured transition systems for patients with ChO-CM in Japan.