Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: When reviewing data from an Acromegaly focus group, it highlighted the lack of psychological support they receive. I became interested to see how psychological support varies geographically across the UK. I also wanted to identify what patients viewed as the priority in order to improve their Acromegaly care.

Methods: 1. 7 Acromegaly patients from across the UK, with a mix of age, sex and treatment experience were filmed as part of a focus group. Discussions were aimed to look at their experiences holistically. Topics included medication, surgery, radiotherapy, co-morbidities and signs and symptoms of their condition. The lack of information and psychological support being prominent throughout.

2. An online survey with predictions of 50–60 participants will go live in July. Geographical location, age, sex, when diagnosed, treatments received and any psychological support received will be established. What the Acromegaly patient would like to see improved with their local endocrine service will also be identified.

Results: I believe the results will match the theory that psychological support is high on the agenda for patients, yet the support available to them is inadequate. I believe there will be a national problem however geographical information will be useful to feed back to areas, what improvements their patients would like to see. The focus group videos originally made with newly diagnosed patients in mind, will be available across social media. After reviewing the footage, we believe they will have an impact in supporting any person with Acromegaly. This alone could improve the psychological support these patients receive. The plan is to complete similar focus groups for other conditions such as Cushing’s, Diabetes Insipidus, Hypogonadism and Adrenal Insufficiency. A follow-up survey for original participants will be sent in the future following up their original recommendations and how the focus group videos have helped them.