A study looking at how missed somatropin injections affect growth in children with growth hormone deficiency: a plain language summary of publication.

Abstract

• Children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) are often prescribed a growth hormone called somatropin to help them grow. • As prescribed, somatropin needs to be injected once a day under the skin. Some children may miss many of their somatropin injections, and this is known as having "low adherence" to treatment. Adherence in this study refers to whether the children had enough somatropin to have daily injections as prescribed. • In this study, researchers found that children with GHD who had high adherence to daily somatropin injections grew more than children who had low adherence to daily somatropin injections. • Researchers, doctors, and nurses need to look at how they can help children with GHD follow their prescribed injection schedule and reduce the number of missed injections. The purpose of this plain language summary is to help you to understand the findings from recent research. • Somatropin is approved to treat the condition under study that is discussed in this summary. • This summary reports the results of a single study. The results of this study may differ from those of other studies. Health professionals should make treatment decisions based on all available evidence, not on the results of a single study. Glossary of commonly used terms Adherence - in this study, adherence refers to whether the children had enough medication (somatropin) to have daily injections as prescribed by their doctor. Growth hormone - a protein made in the pituitary gland that helps the body grow properly. Growth hormone deficiency - children with this condition do not have enough growth hormone in their bodies so they grow more slowly than children with normal levels of growth hormone. Somatropin - a type of human growth hormone that can be made in a laboratory and used to treat growth hormone deficiency.