In the past decade, the adult population with a congenital heart disease (CHD) has overpassed in numbers the paediatric population. Adolescents with CHD frequently interrupt their follow-up soon after transfer to adult cardiology. In 2014, three tertiary care CHD referral centres developed a common regional structured education transition program dedicated to adolescents and young adults with CHD. This study aimed to determine the factors that influenced the inclusion in this transition program.

Prospective controlled multicentre study carried out from November 2015 to January 2017 in southern France. Patients with any CHD aged 13 to 25 y were offered to participate in the program. During their annual check-up, they filled-out the same questionnaires. A multiple linear regression identified the explanatory factors for participation in the program.

A total of 123 patients (mean age 19.6±3.4 y) were included in the study, with 57 participants (group A) and 66 non-participants (group B). Both groups presented similar socio-demographic and quality of life characteristics, a low level of physical activity with muscular deconditioning and a high exposure to risk behaviours (71% patients with ≥1 risk factor). Patients with complex CHDs (OR:4.1, P=0.03), patients with a low level of knowledge of their disease (OR:0.3, P=0.02), patients with risk behaviours (piercing, OR:5.53, P=0.01; alcohol, OR:3.12, P=0.06), and adolescents<20 y (OR:0.29, P=0.03), were more likely to participate in the program.

Many factors influencing the participation of adolescents and young adults with a CHD in a transition education program are controllable.