Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and acromegaly are commonly treated with somatostatin analogs (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 are important for decision-making in long-term therapy. The aim of the PRESTO 3 study was to compare nurses’ preference for the Somatuline Autogel syringe vs the Pharmathen syringe after injection-pad testing. Here we report preferences for 11 syringe attributes.

Methods: This international, simulated-use study included oncology/endocrinology nurses (initial planned sample size 92) with ≥1 year experience in managing patients with NETs and/or acromegaly. Each nurse tested both syringes twice in a randomized order, before completing an electronic preference survey. The primary objective was to assess overall preference (%, 95% confidence interval [CI]) for the Somatuline Autogel syringe vs 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 (SD, 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). The syringe attributes considered most important by nurses were “Easy to use from preparation to injection” (30.9%) and “Comfortable to handle during use from preparation to injection” (20.2%). The attribute most commonly rated as least important was “Fast administration from preparation to injection” (26.6%). Performance rating was statistically significantly higher with Somatuline Autogel than the Pharmathen syringe for 10/11 attributes (p<0.05).

Conclusion: 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 of the 11 attributes. The results from PRESTO 3 confirm the difference in these attributes (including confidence and ease of operation) for the different syringes, and illustrates the importance of offering syringe choice to nurses who are treating patients with SSA injections.

Abstract ID 23678