Improving adherence to GH therapy with an electronic device: first experience with easypod

Endocrinology units in the UK and Eire have, in recent years, moved away from offering a narrow range of injection devices and products to patients starting growth hormone (GH) treatment, and now most (approximately 90%) offer some form of patient choice. Survey results from a unit in Birmingham, UK, have shown that it is not possible to predict which device will be selected by a given patient based on their sex, age or diagnostic category. Across the UK, there is, however, wide variability in the methods used to present the devices to patients, the time invested in reaching an informed decision and the range of devices and manufacturers offered. Patients not offered a free choice of device at the start of treatment have been shown to be less likely to adhere to treatment, and this is associated with diminished height velocity. These results show the importance of offering patients a choice in their GH delivery device.