Endocrine Abstracts

GH is used primarily to increase adult height in short children with GHD/NSD with little knowledge about the impact of GH on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Therefore this study was carried out to evaluate HRQoL in adult patients with childhood onset GHD/NSD at the end of GH therapy.

HrQoL was measured by patient self-report using two generic questionnaires, SF36 and NHP. Patient data were compared to representative norm data. Clinical data as well as socio-demographic data was collected.

The patient group comprised 53 men (M=22.2 years) and 32 women (M=24.2 years). About, 53% patients were diagnosed with GHD and 46% were diagnosed with NSD. At the beginning of treatment the mean height of male and female patients was 126 cm, with no significant difference between males and females. Patients were treated between 1 and 13 years with GH. Mean age at start of GH therapy was 10.5 years, mean height gain was 41 cm. Subject reported mean final height was 167 cm, males were significantly taller than females (172 vs 158 cm).

In the SF-36 significantly lower scores were found on the scales vitality (P<0.001) and social functioning (P=0.037) as compared to the reference population. Males reached higher vitality scores than females (P=0.043). In the NHP patients reported lower scores in the dimensions energy (P<0.001) and social isolation (P=0.003) compared to the reference population; no gender differences were found.

Earlier studies reported conflicting results concerning the HrQOL of GHD patients after GH treatment. The present study found impairments in HrQOL compared to the reference population, especially regarding vitality/energy and social functioning/-isolation. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, HrQOL at start of treatment could not be included in the analysis.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.