Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: GH is used to treat short stature in children with GH deficiency (GHD), Turner syndrome (TS) and born small for gestational age (SGA). As GH is injected daily, treatment adherence may be problematic. To maximise adherence, improvements in injection devices have been targeted. This report compares intuitiveness and ease of use of two disposable GH devices: Norditropin NordiFlex (NF; Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsværd, Denmark) and GoQuick (GQ, Pfizer, Inc., New York, USA).

Methods: Children with GHD, TS or SGA, treated with GH (≥6 months) were randomised to intuitiveness (Int, n=32; mean (S.D.) age, 13.1 (2.1) years) or instruction (Ins, n=32; age, 13.4 (2.0) years) groups. All patients participated in a usability test involving dose setting and injection into an Eppendorf tube for both devices. The Int group was given brief instruction on device use. The Ins group received full instructions according to the patient user guide. Time taken for dose delivery and handling errors was assessed. Following the usability test, participants assessed intuitiveness of use, ease of use and overall preference by questionnaire.

Results: In both groups, fewer errors were made by participants using NF than GQ (Int, 3 vs 19; Inst, 2 vs 5). Time for dose delivery was lower with NF than GQ (Int, 43s vs 66s; P<0.001; Inst, 43s vs 48s, NS (Student’s t-test)). Both groups scored NF higher than GQ in 9/13 categories including: easiest to use, most intuitive, and device of overall preference. In the Int group, 30/32 (94%) participants reported that they would feel safe operating NF without instruction, compared with 10/32 (31%) for GQ.

Conclusions: NF was rated as more intuitive to use; the majority of patients felt safe using it without instruction. The majority of patients preferred NF to GQ, ranking it as easier and more convenient to use.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is a potential conflict of interest.

Funding: This work was supported, however funding details unavailable.