RESUMO
Introduction: This study in Argentina evaluated the impact of the growzen™ buddy smartphone app on adherence to recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) treatment. Methods: The adherence data, invitation dates with a link to the app, app activation dates, and height measurements entered were extracted from the growzen™ digital health ecosystem. Patients with 12 months of adherence data, aged ≥2 years at treatment start, and aged <19 years were selected both before and after app implementation. Mean adherence was classified as optimal (≥85%) versus suboptimal (<85%). Adherence before and after implementation and the pre-post effect on adherence were assessed. Results: Data for 830 patients were available. Prior to app implementation, the proportion of patients with optimal adherence was 68% (n = 348/515). Following the app implementation, out of 315 patients, 302 (96%) received an invitation with a link to the app, 225 (71%) activated their account, and 127 (40%) entered height data in the first year. There was a significant early increase in the proportion of patients with optimal adherence following implementation: 82% (n = 258/315), p < 0.001. After implementation, the proportion of patients with optimal adherence included 80% (n = 78/98) of those with an active account who did not enter height measurements and 89% (n = 113/127) of those who did. There was a significant and positive pre-post app effect on adherence (p < 0.01) in patients with an active account. Discussion: Our results show that using the growzen™ buddy app has a rapid and positive impact on adherence to r-hGH treatment, and patients who were more engaged with the app demonstrated better adherence.
Assuntos
Hormônio do Crescimento Humano , Adesão à Medicação , Aplicativos Móveis , Proteínas Recombinantes , Smartphone , Humanos , Argentina , Masculino , Feminino , Estudos Retrospectivos , Hormônio do Crescimento Humano/uso terapêutico , Hormônio do Crescimento Humano/administração & dosagem , Adesão à Medicação/estatística & dados numéricos , Adolescente , Criança , Proteínas Recombinantes/uso terapêutico , Pré-Escolar , Adulto Jovem , AdultoRESUMO
Introduction: The appropriate use of recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) treatment provides an opportunity to improve growth outcomes among pediatric patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). However, a major challenge in clinical practice is to adequately recognize and address factors that negatively affect treatment adherence. TUITEK® patient support program (PSP) was designed to help caregivers of children diagnosed with GHD to personalize the care pathway, improve adherence, and achieve better outcomes. Effectiveness of TUITEK® PSP has been demonstrated previously in a smaller sample (n = 31) in Taiwanese population. Here, we present the results from Argentina. Methods: TUITEK® PSP was piloted among 76 caregivers of children with GHD administering r-hGH using easypod™ (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) auto-injector device in Argentina. Based on TUITEK® personalization questionnaire, caregivers were assigned to high- and low-risk groups across four categories that may influence adherence, including disease and treatment coherence (DTC), self-administration (SA), treatment-related anxiety (TRA), and emotional burden (EB). The caregivers who were included in atleast one high-risk group had the provision of telephone calls with a nurse practitioner every 2 weeks for 3 months. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed to assess changes in questionnaire-based scoring patterns between baseline and follow-up evaluations. Results: Statistically significant changes (p < 0.05) in questionnaire scores between baseline and follow-up evaluations were observed across the four categories. The mean/median DTC (n = 11) and SA (n = 23) scores changed from 2.45/3 and 2.17/2, respectively, to 4/4, with all the caregivers moving to low-risk group following program completion (100%) for both categories. The mean/median TRA score (n = 40) changed from 3.58/3 to 2.5/2 and 67.5% of patients (27/40) moved to low-risk group. The mean/median EB score (n = 32) changed from 3.69/3 to 3.13/3 however, none of the caregivers moved to low-risk group (0%). Conclusion: TUITEK® PSP is a simple, practical, and time-efficient interventional tool that can be used to address key adherence-related issues among caregivers of children with GHD and provide personalized adherence support. Our findings demonstrate that TUITEK® PSP has the potential to improve treatment adherence and self-management, thereby improving growth outcomes in Argentina.