Self-administration of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone with an Electronic Device: Clinical, Economic and Management Benefits of Objective Adherence Monitoring

Abstract

Purpose: The aim was to identify factors affecting treatment adherence and to assess the clinical, economic and management impact of growth hormone deficiency treatment using an electronic auto-injector for recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) administration in children. Patients and Methods: A literature review was conducted in PubMed up to 31JUL2013, including the following search terms: “growth hormone deficiency”, “human-recombinant growth hormone” and “treatment adherence”. An economic model was developed to estimate the economic benefits of using an electronic injection device. In order to quantify this benefit, potential savings due to growth hormone cartridge optimization were analyzed. Results: From the literature review, the following key factors were found to affect treatment adherence: type of device used, discomfort, complexity of treatment regimens, long-term treatment, age and patient or family understanding of treatment benefits were assessed. A better adjustment to prescribed daily dose (accuracy up to 0.01 mg) with the electronic device results in a better optimization of vials and could save an average of 5% of total treatment costs in terms of doses not wasted, amounting to €245 of potential savings per patient and year of treatment. Conclusion: The use of an electronic device for r-hGH administration and monitoring may provide a better identification of responder and adherent patients. It may also generate savings in annual r-hGH consumption by hospitals and regional healthcare services.