Adherence to growth hormone (GH) therapy in naïve to treatment GH-deficient children: data of the Italian Cohort from the Easypod Connect Observational Study (ECOS)
- Authors: Centonze C.; Guzzetti C.; Orlando G.; Loche S.; Angeletti C.; Antoniazzi F.; Bernasconi S.; Cardinale G.M.; Caruso-Nicoletti M.; Cavallo L.; Cianfarani S.; Citro G.; De Luca F.; Della Casa S.; Di Pietro M.; Garofalo P.; Giordano C.; Greggio N.A.; Licenziati M.R.; Maghnie M.; Parpagnoli M.; Persani L.; Pesce S.; Sacco M.; Salerno M.; Tafi L.
- Publication year: 2019
- Type: Articolo in rivista
- OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/402221
Abstract
Background: With the use of non-objective measurement, adherence to growth hormone (GH) therapy has been reported suboptimal in a large proportion of patients, and poor adherence has been shown to affect short-term growth response in patients receiving GH treatment. Objective: The Easypod™ electronic device allows objective measurement of adherence. In this study, we report 3-year prospective adherence data of the Italian cohort of naïve GH deficient (GHD) children extrapolated from the Easypod Connect Observational Study (ECOS) database. Patients and methods: Seventy-three GHD children naïve to GH treatment were included in the analysis. 22 Italian centers participated in the study. Results: Mean adherence rate was consistently above 85% across the 3-year observation period. Particularly, mean adherence was 88.5%, 86.6%, and 85.7% after 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively. Mean (± SD) height-SDS increase after the first year was 0.41 (± 0.38). Conclusions: The majority of naïve GHD children starting GH treatment with Easypod maintained an adherence rate > 85% up to 3 years. Easypod is a useful tool to follow-up patients’ adherence allowing timely intervention to improve optimal treatment for these patients.