ESPE Abstracts

Background: Poor adherence to recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) treatment presents a significant barrier to achieving optimal growth outcomes. It is important to identify and address the treatment adherence-related needs of children prescribed r-hGH, and develop new approaches to improve adherence. In this study, we aimed to measure the impact of the TuiTek patient support programme, a multi-component personalised service intervention, on caregivers’ knowledge, beliefs and perceptions of GH deficiency (GHD) and adherence to its treatment.

Patients and Methods: The pilot study of the TuiTek patient support programme was conducted among 31 caregivers of children with GHD and receiving r-hGH treatment via the easypod™ auto-injector device in Taiwan. Caregivers within the ‘high risk’ category for belief/perception factors influencing adherence to r-hGH treatment (disease and treatment coherence, emotional burden, self-administration and treatment-related anxiety) were identified via the TuiTek personalisation questionnaire and followed up with bi-weekly telephone calls by a nurse practitioner over a 3-month period. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare changes in questionnaire-based scoring patterns between baseline and follow-up.

Results: Between baseline and follow-up, the percentage of caregivers scoring as ‘high risk’ for emotional burden reduced by 37%; there was also a positive change in confidence of self-administration by 57% and the percentage of caregivers scoring as ‘high risk’ for treatment-related anxiety was reduced by 52%. At follow-up, all caregivers classified as ‘high risk’ within the disease and treatment coherence item at baseline had moved into the ‘low risk’ category. Table 1 presents an overview of these findings. Statistically significant changes in questionnaire scores between baseline and follow-up for disease and treatment understanding, emotional burden, self-administration and treatment-related anxiety (all P < 0.05) were also observed.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that the TuiTek patient support programme can positively address some of the disease and treatment-related barriers amongst caregivers regarding optimal adherence of their children to r-hGH treatment, which has the potential to positively impact on adherence levels and patient clinical outcomes.