[Transitional care programs for patients with rheumatic diseases: review of the literature]

Transitional care programs are developed to facilitate the passage of a young patient with a chronic disease to an adult clinic where he needs to learn how to get involved in his own care. Various models have been proposed to address this transition in a multidisciplinary process. This review will address, in an updated format, various aspects of the transition units. With this objective in mind, we developed a narrative overview of the available information in the literature on transition units (TU) in rheumatic diseases. The most relevant information is presented in different stages: description and recommendations for the management of the adolescent patient, guidelines and information on programs at TU, and a description of aspects that should be part of a TU. Although several transition programs have been described, we do not have enough information to know what the ideal one would be like. More research is needed in this field, focusing on variables such as quality of life, satisfaction, activity and chronic damage.