Adherence and long-term outcomes of growth hormone therapy with easypod™ in pediatric subjects: Spanish ECOS study

Abstract

Background: Non-adherence to r-hGH treatments occurs in a variable percentage of subjects. One problem found when evaluating adherence is the great variability in methods of detection and definitions utilized in studies. This s tudy assessed the level of adherence in subjects receiving r-hGH with the easypod™ electronic device. Methods: National, multicenter, prospective and observational study involving 238 subjects (144 with GH deficiency (GHD), and 86 with small for ge stational age (SGA), 8 with Turner Syndrome), who received r-hGH with easypod™ for at least 3 months before inclusion. The follow-up period was 4 years. Results: Overall adherence was 94.5%; 97.5% after 6 months, 95.3% after 1 year, 93.7% after 2, 94.4% after 3 and 95.5% after 4 years of treatment. No differences in adherence were observed between prepubertal and pubertal groups and GHD a nd SGA groups. Change in height after 1 and 2 years, change in height SDS afte r 1 and 2 years, HV after 1 year, HV SDS after at 1 and 4 years, change in BMI after 1 ye ar and change in BMI SDS at 1 and 2 years showed significant correlation with adherence. No significant differences in adherence according to IGF-I levels were found in follow-up visits or between groups. Conclusions: The easypod™ electronic device, apart from being a precise and objective measure of adherence to r-hGH treatment, allows high compliance rates to be achieved over long periods of time. Adherence significantly impacts growt h outcomes associated with r-hGH treatment.

Keywords

• adherence
• r-hGH
• easypod
• electronic device
• long-term
• outcomes
• pediatrics
• e-health