Patient Preference and Adherence (Sep 2021)
Clinicians’ Feedback on Patient/Carer Experience After Switching of Growth Hormone Treatment in Pediatric Patients During COVID-19
Abstract
Joanne Blair, 1 Kelly Warth, 2 Yashasvi Suvarna, 3 Marco Cappa 4 1Department of Endocrinology, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK; 2Instar, London, UK; 3Global Medical Affairs, Novo Nordisk Global Business Services (GBS), Bangalore, India; 4Endocrinology Unit, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, ItalyCorrespondence: Joanne BlairDepartment of Endocrinology, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L12 2AP, UKTel +44 151 252 5335 Fax +44 151 282 4606Email [email protected]: This study investigated why some clinicians switched growth hormone (GH) brands in pediatric patients with GH-related disorders to Norditropin® since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinicians’ perceptions of the results, and whether observations from this period of disruption could inform clinical practice in the future.Patients and Methods: Clinicians (N=106) from the UK, France, Italy, and Japan who had switched at least one patient to Norditropin® from a GH therapy manufactured by a different pharmaceutical company between February and November 2020 participated. They completed an online survey and submitted patient report forms for up to three switched patients.Results: Since the start of COVID-19, 39– 54% of the reported consultations were virtual (ie, via telephone or online means) in the UK, France, and Italy. Overall, 17% of patients seen by respondents in the survey were switched to a different GH brand; approximately two-thirds of switches were to Norditropin®. Clinicians’ top considerations in choosing a GH brand were patient/carer feedback, patient support programs, and the need for easy-to-use therapies in the context of virtual consultations. The top reasons for switching patients to Norditropin® included ease of use, device features and benefits, better patient/carer feedback, and ease of training in device use via virtual consultations. Norditropin® was considered suitable for use in virtual or in-person consultations or a mixture of both. Based on patient/carer feedback, 66% of clinicians believed that patients preferred Norditropin® to their previous therapy in terms of overall satisfaction.Conclusion: In this survey, key considerations in prescribing GH therapy were ease of use and acceptability to patients and carers. If virtual consultations increasingly replace in-person ones, ease in training patients/carers in device use will be particularly important. A majority of clinicians considered that their patients preferred Norditropin® to their previous therapy.Keywords: growth disorders, somatropin, virtual consultations, ease of use, Norditropin®
