Abstract
It is very difficult to give appropriate medical care to transition cases with intellectual disabilities or developmental disorders because of patients’ individual needs. Cases of patients older than 20 years of age accounted for 5.5% of all the outpatients who consulted with the department of child neurology at Shimada Ryoiku Center Hachiouji. The majority of their diagnoses were autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and epilepsy. We created a system that allowed us to move patients from child neurology to the psychiatric department. Forty-four cases transferred between January of 2018 and April of 2019. We carried out a survey of the department shift on the psychiatrists who saw our transition cases. The reasons for the difficulties in many of the transitions included the patient’s willingness to consult, differences in consultation between a pediatrician and a psychiatrist and the relationship of trust with the patient. Doctors should understand more about disabilities and how to deal with and have closer coordination with pediatrics and psychiatry. Society needs to realize and address the problem while strengthening coordination with education, welfare and other departments. It is important to provide patients with seamless support.
