Can adherence to r-hGH therapy be improved with targeted interventions?

Patients identified by digital medication adherence monitoring as having low adherence to recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) therapy who received nurse-led educational intervention saw improvement in medication adherence, according to a study.

In this 12-month observational, retrospective cohort study, 80 patients identified as having low adherence (<80%) by data from the easypod injection device were included. Most patients had growth hormone deficiency (71.25%), followed by small for gestational age (20%), Turner syndrome (7.50%), and chronic renal disease (1.25%). The duration of treatment was 0.40-11.13 (median: 3.62) years. Patients were followed for 6 months before and 6 months after a targeted educational visit by a Merck Patient Support Program nurse.

Overall, the baseline median adherence to r-hGH was 67%, which increased to 76% after intervention, and 36% of patients increased their adherence to r-hGH therapy to ≥80%. Both changes were clinically relevant.

Reference
Assefi AR, Roca F, Rubstein A, et al. Positive Impact of Targeted Educational Intervention in Children With Low Adherence to Growth Hormone Treatment Identified by Use of the Easypod™ Electronic Auto-injector Device. Front Med Technol. 2021;3:609878. doi: 10.3389/fmedt.2021.609878. PMID: 35047902; PMCID: PMC8757889.