Transitioning Adolescents with Perinatally Acquired HIV from Paediatric to Adult Centered Care: Caregivers’ Perspective

Aim: To investigate caregivers’ attitude towards transitioning HIV-positive adolescents from paediatric to adult centered care as well as understanding their perspective of transition inhibitors and facilitators.

Study Design: We used a descriptive qualitative design and purposively selected principal caregivers of adolescents aged 15 to 19 years with perinatally acquired HIV who had been attending the paediatric infectious diseases clinic for at least 12 months before the study.

Place and Duration of Study: Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The study was conducted from August 2020 to November 2020.

Methodology: We included principal caregivers whose wards were not cognitively impaired, whose HIV serostatus had been disclosed to them and who had been attending the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital paediatric infectious diseases clinic for at least 12 months before the onset of the study. Fifteen In-depth interviews were conducted and data was analyzed using the thematic analysis method with Atlas ti data qualitative software version 7.5.21. The sample size was determined when data saturation was reached.

Results: Most principal caregivers did not understand their role and were not involved in preparing their wards for the transition to adult care. Perceived inhibitors to transition were anxiety on severing the long-term relationship with the paediatric health care team and concern that adult physicians may not be as caring as those in the paediatric clinic. Seropositive caregivers suggested that taking their wards along with them to their appointment at the adult clinic would facilitate transition.

Conclusion: Principal caregivers were unaware of their roles in the transition process, healthcare providers should actively involve and educate them to ensure a smooth transitioning to the adult centered care.