Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2013) 33 OC2.8 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.33.OC2.8

BSPED2013 Oral Communications Oral Communications 2 (10 abstracts)

Establishing a national audit of paediatric GH prescribing

Emma-Jane Gault 1 , Sheila Shepherd 2 & Nick Shaw 3


1University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK; 2NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK; 3Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, UK.


Introduction: GH therapy is prescribed to UK children for a variety of indications. However, no central record exists, making follow-up studies difficult.

Aim: To establish an ongoing audit of UK children and adolescents newly-prescribed GH in order to i) monitor trends in prescribing practice and ii) facilitate future long-term follow-up.

Patient population: UK children aged ≤16.0 years newly starting GH therapy.

Methods: Consultants prescribing paediatric GH (BSPED members/non-members) can participate. The following anonymised data are recorded: partial postcode, diagnostic category, sex, month/year of birth, age, GH dose, injections per week, ongoing prescription (GP/hospital). Data are submitted and collated centrally quarterly. Audit ID numbers are allocated and sent to participating centres for local linkage to NHS, CHI or H&C numbers.

Results: Eighty-four centres are participating; for the first quarter (Jan/Feb/Mar 2013), 75 submitted returns (89%), of which 22 had no patients to report. The remaining 53 centres reported 250 patients (M/F: 138/112) treated at a median (range) age of 8.2 (0.2–22.6) years for the following indications.

‘Other’ included short stature (16); syndromes (6) & constitutional delay of growth (2). GH dose is usually calculated as mg/m2 per week or μg/kg per day (both 90), with mg/kg per week less common (68; Table 1). The majority (248) receive daily injections and most ongoing prescribing is via the GP (152 vs 95 hospital).

Table 1 Indication for GH therapy (n).
GHDTSPWSCRISGASHOXOther
134239739434

Table 1 Indication for GH therapy (n).
GHDTSPWSCRISGASHOXOther
134239739434

Conclusion: Early indications are that a national audit of paediatric GH prescribing is feasible. Most treatment is for a licensed indication and initiated at all paediatric ages. Ongoing challenges include maintaining the initial high return rate and auditing local data linkage; fundamental to future follow-up studies.

Volume 33

41st Meeting of the British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes

British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes 

Browse other volumes

Article tools

My recent searches

No recent searches.