ECE2023 Eposter Presentations Pituitary and Neuroendocrinology (234 abstracts)
1IRCCS AOU San Martino, Genova, Italy; 2Kings College Hospital, London, UK; 3Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, USA; 4IPSEN, Boulogne-Billancourt, France; 5IPSEN BIOSCIENCE INC., Cambridge, USA; 6The Neuroendocrine Tumour Unit, London, UK
Introduction/Background: Patients with NETs and acromegaly are commonly treated with somatostatin analogues (SSAs), such as octreotide and lanreotide depot formulations. The Pharmathen syringe is now available in several European countries and the USA for lanreotide depot injection. When using SSAs, confidence in and ease of use with syringes is important for decision-making in long-term therapy.
Aims: PRESTO 3 compared nurses preference for the Somatuline Autogel syringe versus the Pharmathen syringe after injection-pad testing. Here we report preferences for 11 attributes.
Methods: This international, simulated-use study included oncology/endocrinology nurses (initial planned sample size 92) with ≥1 year experience in managing NETs and/or acromegaly. Each nurse tested both syringes twice in a randomised order, before completing an electronic preference survey. The primary objective was to assess overall preference (%, 95% confidence interval [CI]) for the Somatuline Autogel syringe versus the Pharmathen syringe, assessed using a one-sample exact binomial test. Secondary objectives included ranking importance and rating performance (scored from 1 [not at all] to 5 [very much]; Wilcoxon 2-sided signed-rank test) of attributes for both syringes.
Results: Ninety-four nurses were enrolled: mean age, 41.0 (S.D., 11.5) years; 72.3% in Europe (7 countries) and 27.7% in the USA. The proportion of nurses stating a preference (strong or slight) for the Somatuline Autogel syringe [86.2% (95% CI 77.5%92.4%)] was statistically significantly higher than 50% (P<0.0001). Ranking of syringe attributes are reported in the Table. Performance rating was statistically significantly higher with Somatuline Autogel than the Pharmathen syringe for 10/11 attributes (P<0.05) (Table 1).
Attributes | Most important, % | Second most important, % | Least important, % |
Easy to use | 30.9 | 11.7 | 4.3 |
Comfortable to handle | 20.2 | 16.0 | 1.1 |
Convenience of syringe format | 8.5 | 11.7 | 9.6 |
Confidence that: | |||
• full volume is delivered | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.0 |
• a low-risk of needle-stick injuries | 7.4 | 5.3 | 3.2 |
• a low-risk of syringe contamination | 5.3 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
• no loss of product during preparation | 5.3 | 5.3 | 3.2 |
• needle appears patient-friendly | 2.1 | 4.3 | 22.3 |
Sturdy plunger during use | 6.4 | 12.8 | 7.4 |
Easy to teach others how to use | 3.2 | 8.5 | 19.1 |
Fast administration | 2.1 | 11.7 | 26.6 |
Bold: most-, second-most and least-important attributes |
Conclusions: This simulated-use study showed that nurses strongly preferred the user experience of the Somatuline Autogel syringe over the Pharmathen syringe. Ease of use and comfortable to handle were considered the most important syringe attributes, and performance rating was significantly higher with Somatuline Autogel than the Pharmathen syringe for all but one attribute.