Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Box , Nairobi, Kenya. Transition was not routinely tracked, and definitions were heterogeneous. Median age at transition was reported as 20 years range: 14—30 years. HIV programmes have implemented varied approaches to enhance AYA services that could be leveraged to support transition to adult services.
Research on the impact of these services on health outcomes is needed. Keywords: HIV, retention in care, adherence, adolescents and young adults, specific support, Kenya, cross-sectional survey. Poor adherence and unsuppressed viral loads[ 1 — 3 ], high rates of mortality[ 4 ] and loss to follow-up[ 5 , 6 ] remain highest in AYA compared to other age groups.
Loss to follow-up is particularly high among to year-olds [ 5 , 6 ], an age group that experiences healthcare transition to adult services. Supporting AYA during the vulnerable period of transition is crucial to optimising health outcomes. Despite being a critical process, transition from paediatric to adult HIV services in sub-Saharan Africa SSA is poorly defined and often unstructured[ 7 ].
Data on transition services for chronic non-infectious diseases are similarly lacking in this setting, making it difficult to adapt transition practices for AYA living with HIV.
In resource-rich countries, transition programmes have been developed for HIV[ 8 ] and chronic non-infectious diseases [ 9 — 12 ]. In these settings, structured transition programmes are associated with improved clinical outcomes [ 13 , 14 ]. These programmes are often multidisciplinary, are individually tailored and support AYA to gain the knowledge and skills they need in adult care systems.
