Non-Compliance with Growth Hormone Treatment in Children Is Common and Impairs Linear Growth

Wayne S Cutfield, José G B Derraik, Alistair J Gunn, Kyle Reid, Theresa Delany, Elizabeth Robinson and Paul L Hofman

PLOS ONE, 2011, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-3

Abstract: Background: GH therapy requires daily injections over many years and compliance can be difficult to sustain. As growth hormone (GH) is expensive, non-compliance is likely to lead to suboptimal growth, at considerable cost. Thus, we aimed to assess the compliance rate of children and adolescents with GH treatment in New Zealand. Methods: This was a national survey of GH compliance, in which all children receiving government-funded GH for a four-month interval were included. Compliance was defined as ≥85% adherence (no more than one missed dose a week on average) to prescribed treatment. Compliance was determined based on two parameters: either the number of GH vials requested (GHreq) by the family or the number of empty GH vials returned (GHret). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Findings: 177 patients were receiving GH in the study period, aged 12.1±0.6 years. The rate of returned vials, but not number of vials requested, was positively associated with HVSDS (p

Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0016223

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016223

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