SFEBES2008 Poster Presentations Pituitary (62 abstracts)
The short and long-term effect of growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy on quality of life in adults with severe growth hormone deficiency
Lucy Ann Behan , Bairbre Rogers , Cara Connolly , Samantha Burrows , Eoin P O’Sullivan , Rachel K Crowley , Diarmuid Smith & Amar Agha
Beaumont Hosptial, Dublin, Ireland.
Adult GH deficiency is associated with poor quality of life (QoL) which has been shown to improve with GH replacement is some but not all, mainly short-term studies. In addition, it remains unclear whether this improvement in QoL is sustainable.
We aimed to establish the short and long-term effect of GH replacement on QoL in 167 adult patients with severe GH deficiency in a prospective study. QoL was assessed using the quality of life-assessment of growth hormone deficiency in adults (AGHDA) questionnaire. This is a 25-point survey with higher scores indicating worse QoL.1 All patients were appropriately replaced with all the other deficient hormones before starting GH. Statistical comparisons were made using non-parametric tests.
GH dose was titrated over a period of 6 months to achieve serum IGF-1 in the upper half of the normal range. The median baseline AGHDA score was 12, which improved 5.5 at 1 year and to 4 at 5 years (P<0.001 for both). Patients with more marked impairment of QoL (baseline AGHDA ≥11) showed more significant benefit (scores dropped from a median of 17 to 10 and 11.3 at one and five years respectively) compared with those with AGHDA scores <11(scores dropped from a median of 6 to 5.5 and 4 at one and five years respectively); between groups P<0.001.
Adult GH replacement therapy results in significant and sustained improvement in quality of life. Patients with more pronounced pre-treatment impairment in QoL show most benefit.
Reference
1. McKenna SP, Doward LC, Alonso J, Kohlmann T et al. The QoL AGHDA: an instrument for the assessment of quality of life in adults with growth hormone deficiency. Qual Life Res 1999 8 373–383.
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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