Optimizing Care Transition for Adolescents With Epilepsy

"You can specifically look at where someone is not doing well and then design intervention measures around those areas.”

EpiTRAQ, a transition readiness assessment tool that includes epilepsy-relevant items based on concepts in current epilepsy quality measures, was designed to help transition adolescents with epilepsy from their pediatric care physician to an adult care specialist. It was shown to have good validity and reliability in a recent study that analyzed result patterns for 153 patients who completed 2 or more EpiTRAQ forms.

Sucheta M. Joshi, MD, MS, FAES, FAAP, and Nicholas Beimer, MD were among the study investigators that witnessed the benefits of EpiTRAQ in its early stages. Joshi, a clinical professor of pediatrics and medical director of pediatric epilepsy, and Beimer, an assistant professor of epilepsy, both at Michigan Medicine, understand the impact that a smooth transition can have on a patient’s quality of life following a care change.

In an interview with NeurologyLive, Joshi and Beimer detail the findings from the study, including observations that were particularly interesting to them. They touch on how the transition tool can help identify a patient’s preparedness regarding areas such as seizure control, sudden death in epilepsy (SUDEP) risk, and social isolation.