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Background and Importance Adherence to growth hormone treatment is critical as it is associated with increased growth velocity and improved adult height. However, because it requires daily injections, adherence may decline in paediatric patients. Aim and Objectives The objectives of this study are to measure patient adherence to growth hormone treatment, evaluate the influence of age on adherence, and identify patient groups needing close pharmacist monitoring. Material and Methods A retrospective and descriptive study included all patients undergoing growth hormone (somatostatin) treatment from 1 January 2017, to 31 December 2022. Variables considered included age (calculated from the last dispensation), gender, dispensation dates, and dispensed quantities. Adherence was estimated using the indirect method of measuring medication dispensed over an interval (CSA: Continuous Single Interval Measure of Medication Acquisition); percentage of days covered relative to the total days in the interval, using the computer software Farmatools® (Dominion). Results The study included 160 patients (52.5% girls, 47.5% boys), aged 4–18 years, with an average age of 12.5 years and a mean treatment duration of 3.2 years. Age groups comprised 4–6 years (10 patients), 7–9 years (21 patients), 10–12 years (39 patients), 13–15 years (53 patients), and 16–18 years (37 patients). Regardless of age, 80.63% of the patients had an adherence rate of over 90% (68.13% over 95% adherence). When analysing adherence within these age ranges, 30% (three patients) had adherence below 90% in the group aged 4–6 years, 4.76% (one patient) aged 7–9 years, 15.38% (six patients) aged 10–12 years, 13.21% (seven patients) aged 13–15 years and 37.84% (14 patients) aged 16–18 years. Only one patient (10%) in the group aged 4–6 years had adherence below 85%, 0% in the group aged 7–9 years, 5.13% (two patients) in the group aged 10–12 years, 7.55% (four patients) in the group aged 13–15 years and 16.22% (six patients) in the group aged 16–18 years. Conclusion and Relevance Most patients had optimal adherence, with the worst adherence in the extreme age groups. In younger children this may be due to fear of injections and in adolescents due to relaxation over time and lack of family supervision. These age groups could benefit from closer pharmaceutical care. References and/or Acknowledgements Conflict of Interest No conflict of interest.
Miguel et al. (Fri,) studied this question.